Uncovering Love
by Mikey Jacquez
Summary: The life of Annie Cresta has always been terrible. It has never been pleasant. One night, she and her son escape from her husband Gloss. When they find themselves in a whole new city, she resides there and starts a new life. She also meets a handsome man named Finnick and figures out that he's her true love; however, her new life starts to darken when Gloss searches them.
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1**

I stare down; looking at the same pair of shoes I've been having for many years now—probably four. That's right. Four years with the same pair of shoes and I haven't had new ones ever since. After all, four years ago, I did have a big day; however, I don't consider it a big or good day now.

The sound of the door slamming hard startles me and I can't even lift a finger, because I'm afraid he'll do something, something I don't even want to have as a memory when I look back at these years. I don't even know if I'll be able to look back as if I'll have a further life.

"God dammit!" he yells. His name is Gloss. He is my husband and has been for four years. I don't remember the last time when he said he loved me, when he said he'd keep taking care of me until death separates us, when he even showed me how much he cares for me. I don't even know if he does.

"Annie, why haven't you picked up the trash outside?!" he raises his voice even more.

I can't talk back to him, or else. But is responding to his question the same thing as talking back?

He treats me like a toy, like a slave, like I'm a piece of shit. But really, I'm his wife. I'm the mother of his son. He's the father of my son.

I'm Annie Cresta. I'm twenty-five years old. I was raised by two pairs of people; my parents and my uncle and aunt. My mother never did anything around the house, besides smoking cigarettes, cutting herself, and drinking until she passed out. My father was hardly ever home. The only things he would do were go out with his friends and return by morning, and sometimes, not return at all. His last words to me were, "Go to hell, you little piece of shit."

I remember that day like it was yesterday. I was seven-years old and I was living with them in Richmond, Virginia. I was playing with my headless doll in my parents' room—the only room of the house, so I'd sleep on the floor without any sort of blanket sometimes. I was lucky to even get the baby blanket we were given when I was born… I still have it.

I heard glass shattering on the floor, on the walls, even on the ceiling! It wouldn't stop. I dropped the doll and when I slowly sauntered towards the noise, it was my mother, throwing every dish around. She looked furious, infuriated, outraged; she looked like a demon. She screamed and screamed until her voice was giving up, until she was giving up. I wanted to cry but couldn't—she'd hurt me or something.

"I'm tired of all of this!" she yelled. "I'm tired!"

That's when she looked at me with her vicious dark eyes. The only thing I liked about her was her beautiful flowing brown hair. People say that I have the same hair as my mother did but I don't like agreeing with them.

"You little rat," she got closer to me and her hand clenched. The only thing I felt was her hand gripping my throat, pushing me against the wall hard. My whole back ached for the next few days after that. It felt like my back bones shattered and couldn't be replaced.

"I regret having you," she said, "I wish you were never born. You're as useless as a little piece of shit."

I didn't know what her problem was until my father walked in. He somewhat reminds me of Gloss, but that isn't a good thing. He even kind of looked like Gloss.

"What the hell is going on here?" his voice was intimidating.

"I'm just tired of all of this!" my mother finally released me and dug her fingernails into her skull. "I'm tired of this bullshit! I'm tired of this shit, so-called, world!"

"Look," my father approached my mother but I wanted to cry, and did, when I saw him stamping his fist onto her stomach. She groaned and couldn't breathe. "You're the one who's tired? You're the one who's tired? You're the one that sits on your ass all day and does nothing! You're just like that shit over there!"

He pointed at me.

"Listen to me," he grabbed her by the jaw and pulled her face to face him, "You're tired of this world? Good. I've been waiting for you to say that for a long time."

He whispered it but I still heard him. He didn't say anything after that but I closed my eyes and covered my face so I wouldn't have to look at him snapping my mother's neck. I heard her neck snap though—it was like breaking a branch in half, but the noise was louder.

I was creating an ocean full of tears and didn't know what to do when my father looked at me, after he released my mother's body. _Should I run? _I thought. _Should I stop crying? _He slowly walked towards me, his hands shaking—his feet as well. Maybe it was because of the drugs he did outside with his "friends". I tried to stop the tears from releasing but couldn't help it. I just couldn't.

My small body tightened when I felt his hard hands grip me by my armpits and I could see a tear in his eye. That's when I began bawling, letting the whole neighborhood know that I was in complete danger. I knew that, because when a lady walked in, she immediately looked for the phone and dialed in someone, saying, "Yes? Please come to Eight-Hundred, Maple Avenue, and please make it quick! Please!"

The police arrived immediately after the phone call. It probably took them a minute and a half—we did live near a police station.

"Freeze!" a policeman pointed a gun at my father. I didn't know if I should be thankful or frightened. He was pointing a gun right at my father!

"Release the child!" he continued.

My father listened and dropped me, letting me land right on my bottom, hitting my head on the wall. Pain struck my whole body and I cried even more. Two more policemen barged into the scene and took my father, handcuffing both of his hands together. Before they left, the policemen were still holding him when he approached me one last time, and said, "Go to hell, you little piece of shit."

I didn't even know what hell was, until I started living with my aunt and uncle afterwards. The lady who had saved me, her name was Mags. I don't know if she's still alive today—she probably was around her late-sixties or early-seventies back then. I haven't seen her ever since.

My aunt and uncle were not like my parents; they didn't abuse me or anything but they did yell at me a lot. I learned from them though. They told me the basics: don't do drugs, don't smoke, don't drink, wait until you're married to have sex, etc. I followed all of those except for one; the last one.

Whenever I was in College, back when I was twenty, I met Gloss. He's twenty-six now, so he was twenty-one when we met. I thought he was the sweetest, cutest, most down-to-earth guy I had ever met. But like some girls, I was stupid for thinking that. One night, he took me to the lake, somewhere here in California. We were inside his truck talking about random things. He told me a little about his family—it wasn't anything like mine. I didn't tell him about my parents though; I told him that they both died before I turned two. I told him about my aunt and uncle, and felt like I was talking too much. He didn't seem to be bothered after though, and he didn't talk after that either; instead, he kissed me. It was the first time and it felt perfect. I was naïve and still am. He kept kissing me and kissing me until all of the sudden, we were both naked and I wanted to cry for what we had just done.

Nine months later, I gave birth to Creek. Gloss decided to name him that and I had no obligation to reject. He said it was not up to me to name him. He said that I, giving him the news that I was pregnant, was enough. He wanted me to get an abortion but that's the one of the other reasons why he got to name him. He felt like I was making all of the decisions. I kind of was.

Creek is four-years-old today. He looks more like Gloss than he does me. He has the same blue eyes, the same blond hair, and the same skin. I'm a little glad that he doesn't look like me; he'd be ugly if he did but wouldn't be as ugly as me.

"Look at me when I'm talking to you," Gloss gets near me and that's when I remember my parents. I feel a chill going down my spine when he grabs my chin and lifts my face up so I'll look at him.

"I told you pick up the trash outside before I got home," he says, "You can't even do one simple task. I don't even know why I married you; you're worthless."

I understand that.

"Are you going to answer me?" he adds with a furious tone.

I look down at the Adam's apple on his throat and notice that it pops out more. His arms look much more muscular as well.

"I…" I finally decide to speak but feel regret stabbing me all over. "I…"

"Quit doing that and answer me!" he shakes me.

"I… I'm sorry," I say, "I… I promise I'll go pick it up right now."

He takes a quick look at me before he harshly presses his mouth hard against mine that I can't even feel his lips somehow.

"Creek!" he shouts after he finishes kissing me and walks towards Creek's room.

I can't get into whatever he does with Creek. I do sometimes but he only hits me, and it makes Creek cry even more. I can't stand the sight of Creek crying—it makes me want to cry, because it reminds me of how I was when I was a kid. It feels like he's living it.

I look down at my shoes again and think: _I'm worthless. I'm not worth having Gloss. I mean, he does work his butt off every day, while I pretty much do what my mother did. I do nothing here at home—I don't really consider this place home. I might as well not call it home at all. Maybe it's time for a new home, a new life, something better than this. However, I just don't know if there's anything that'll last long forever; that happiness will last forever. I think I should try though… I should try to, at least, start a new life. I should try to start a new beginning, a new beginning without Gloss…_

_I have to do it_ _soon._

* * *

**NOTES: Good Lord! What am I thinking? What is Little Mikey thinking nowadays? Hmm... I'm crazy, I know. XD But seriously you guys, I never, ever, ever, ever had this story in thought until last night. It literally hit me last night and I felt like I couldn't just let it go. I had to begin writing it down. I have to admit though, that I wasn't going to use Annie as the protagonist but I recently found out that a lot of people like her, and, of course, Finnick;) I didn't know who I was going to use at the main character at the beginning until I thought of Annie. It's actually really fun writing as her and I can't wait to get started on the next chapter. But anyway, uh... (I feel like this Author's note is going to be long! XD) this is my first, regular fanfic. My first was ****_Convergent_****, which is a crossover (if you have a chance, please check that out), and I still haven't finished that but I'm heading towards the ending already. Oh, and speaking of that! I was actually writing the next chapter for ****_Convergent _****when this story idea popped into my mind. I was like... "Whoa! Brain, mind, chill please! I can't work on two stories at the same time!" but I'm sure I'll manage. To my ****_Convergent _****fans, if any of you are here, hopefully, the story will still be published often. I haven't updated it in a while and I'm truly sorry. I've been having Writer's block with that story for some reason. And in case any of you are wondering, (my ****_Convergent _****fans) there will still be a sequel to that story! This story will be one single one with no sequels. Yeah... I feel like this'll be like one of those stories that making a sequel for it, will ruin it. So yeah... Like I said, I never thought that I would be writing another story at this time. I don't even think now's the good time to be doing that, but what the heck? I'll do it just for you guys:) I hope, if anyone read this, you guys like this so far. This is a fresh start - it's a fresh start for another story that doesn't have to do with the actual Hunger Games or any Divergent action-based sequences. This story's probably not as good as the other ones out there but it's worth a try. I'm not the best writer as well, but I do try as well. So, again, hope you guys liked this and please, if you read, please leave a review and tell me what you think so far:) I need to know how this is from you guys' perspective. (Again, ****_Convergent _****fans, please don't be upset with me. This story popped out of nowhere and I want to give it a try, like I did with ****_Convergent_****. Remember, the sequel has not been scrapped. I'll still write it, and I probably won't update ****_Convergent _****as fast as I used to, but I WILL try. And I hope you guys can get a chance and read this as well. Thank you.) And thank all of you guys as well!:)**

**...**

**Told you this would be a long note. XD **


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

My back hurts a little as I pick up every single empty bottle of beer that lies on the ground. I see a lot of empty plastic cups, trash bags, and especially empty beer bottles. The sky is cloudy and it has been for many days now. I don't think I've seen the sun since last week. This place is as dark as my old place with my parents.

I bent down and pick up the last beer bottle when I see a guy, who looks like he's eighteen or nineteen, walking up to me. His hair is blond and his eyes look blue. He kind of looks like Gloss—like's the son he never told me about.

"Excuse me," he says and holds a clipboard. "I'm walking around doing a survey around the neighborhood and I was wondering if you had the time to take it."

I don't think I can. I look over my shoulder to see if Gloss is peeking through the window, but luckily, he's not. _Thank, God._

"Ah, sure." I say and begin listening to him explain the process.

He says that the survey is for his school—for his debate class. I guess he's a senior in high school, judging by his looks. His name is Cato.

After he explains, he hands me the clipboard and just as I'm about to answer the first question, my face is wet, my hair is wet, and even the clipboard got wet. The water got into my eyes and just as I regain my vision, I see that he's running away, laughing as he holds a water gun and gives another guy a high-five. _Everybody in this neighborhood hates me this much, even the teenagers whom I don't even know._

I throw the clipboard to the street, letting it fly to the other side of the curb and rush inside—only to come face-to-face with Gloss again.

"Why the hell are you wet?" he asks.

I touch my soaking wet hair and watch a few water drops fall and drip onto the floor.

"I know it's not raining outside. What were you doing?" he goes on.

"I turned the water holes on to wash away the dirt from the concrete, and I accidentally squirted myself," I lie and realize I've just made the biggest mistake of my life.

"Are you sure about that?" he takes a step closer to me. His muscular arms are folded across his chest. "Are you? Because, I saw you with someone."

_I'm dead._

"Who the hell was that guy?!" I feel the sting traveling all over my cheek after he hits it. I can feel it turning red and getting warmer.

"Answer me!" he grabs my arms and starts shaking me. I can feel every single organ in my body shake, like they're going to stop functioning.

"It…" I start, "It was a…"

"A what?!" he shakes me even more that I feel like my eyes are going to spin back to my head.

"It was a guy!" I finally get a grip and manage to push him off, knowing that now I have made the biggest mistake of my entire life. "It was a guy. I don't know who it was; I guess he's a teenager. I don't know. He said he was doing a survey for his school but when I was about to take it, he squirted me with a water gun. I'm sorry."

"Survey? Please, that's the biggest lie I've ever heard!" he shakes his head and I can feel his hands pushing me back and I land on my bottom, but luckily, I don't hit my head or anything else.

"If I catch you with another guy again," he points at me but then looks the other way and stares at the ceiling for a slight second before he finishes saying, "God knows what I'll do with you."

I don't say anything after that but nod and watch him leave for our room. Well, his room, I guess. Sometimes, I have to sleep in the living room—mostly all the time. I bite my lip and check the time. It says _7:12_. It's time for dinner. I'm actually surprised that he didn't bring that up—that I can't cook for him or something like that. Thank God for that.

I don't hesitate but move forward and begin making supper—a simple one though. When I'm finished, I go to the room and tell Gloss that it's ready. I also go to Creek's room and say the same thing. They rush to the kitchen, where I've already served their plates. I read the time and it says _8:34_. It's not too late.

"This tastes good," says Creek, "Did you make candy?"

"I didn't, sweetie," I tell him and his smile turns into a little frown. I know he doesn't hate me for it but it still pains me.

"Son," Gloss says, "I don't know what you're talking about. This crap isn't even worth putting in your body."

He keeps eating it though. I don't say anything or respond either; because he usually tells me that if I have a comment for something of him, to keep it to myself—or to just not think it at all.

"Do you want something to drink, honey?" I politely ask Creek.

"Can I have juice?" he asks.

"Yeah," I smile and touch his cheek for a slight second before I get up to pour some juice on his small cup. I don't want to look at Gloss, because he'll say something. I don't care what he says but I just don't want to hear it. I'm getting really tired of his shit and I just can't put up with it any longer. I walk back over to the table and when I sit back down, Gloss gives me a scowl.

"Are you going to get me something?" he asks in an angry tone.

I look down at my almost empty dish and stare at the small pieces of broccoli. I want to cry but I can't do it in front of Creek. I can't do it in front of my little boy, my little handsome boy. I blink the tears away but keep looking down. That's when Gloss gets up and pulls my chair back, letting me fall on the ground.

"What did I tell you?" he says, "Answer me when I'm talking to you! Get up!"

He pulls my left arm and I can suddenly feel my muscles stretch as he pulls me up and slaps me across the face—but this time, on my other cheek. I feel it stinging and feel like it won't stop. It's like tiny spikes and needles digging through every part of my cheek, only this feels worse.

I exchange quick glances with Creek and I notice that he has a tear flowing down his eye. That's when I start producing more tears.

"Daddy!" he screams, "Don't grab mommy like that!"

"Shut up!" Gloss yells and it hurts my ears.

I feel like he busted my eardrum and all I can hear is him cussing me out and Creek's sobs. I want to get Creek and just get the hell out of here but I obviously and literally can't right now as Gloss holds both of my wrists hard. I feel like my wrist bones are going to crush and shatter all over. It feels like my skin is being ripped and squished hard by Gloss's hands. I can't get out of this.

"Get over here!" he yells one more time before he pulls me into our room—his room—and slaps me another time. I begin losing my balance but I land safely on the bed; it feels cold. I look at Gloss one last time and notice that his shirt is off—he's removing his pants as well. He's removing everything and I don't even know how he's removing my clothes. I try to fight back but he's too strong for me. I can't overpower him—he always and always will overpower me. I close my eyes so I can't remember this in the future and my whole body stiffens. As soon as I open them again, I touch both of my cheeks and feel them wet. They're my tears. I look over my naked body but can't see anything as the lights are off. I turn next to me and Gloss is asleep naked as well. I know he's asleep, because he's snoring. Whenever he doesn't snore, it means he's either falling asleep, or pretending.

I check the time on the furniture next to the bed and it says _2:17_. I have time. I have plenty of time. I have the whole night to do this.

_Creek._

Is he still awake? Is he asleep? Did he fall asleep in the kitchen, or did he go to his room?

I bite my lip hard and that's when I slowly and quietly get out of the bed. Luckily, I wasn't covered up, so it makes it easier to not make noise. I tippy-toe to the closet and get every single blouse and shirts I have—not all of them but most of them. After all, I don't even have a lot, which makes it an advantage. I grab two suitcases—one for me, and one for Creek. The bigger one is for Creek, so I can put a few of his toys there. It only takes me about fifteen to twenty minutes to pack and get dressed by the time I wake Creek up.

"What?" he yawns. _He did sleep in his room._

"Sweetie, come on," I whisper as quietly as possible that I don't think he heard me.

"Where are we going?" he asks.

"We're going to Candy Land, sweetie," I feel awful for lying to him. But I have to in order for him to come with me.

"Really? You mean it?" he smiles and raises his voice a little. I quickly shush him.

"Yes, honey, but you have to be really quiet. Promise me you'll be quiet?" I ask.

"Promise."

I grab his little hand and we get out his room quietly. I grab both of our suitcases and we make our way for the door. As we're about to walk out, I notice that I'm forgetting something, something valuable.

"Stay right here," I whisper and head straight to Gloss's room. He's still asleep and snoring. _Thank, God._ I open the closet and grab my pink baby blanket. I'm not going to forget and I wasn't just going to take off without it. It's part of my childhood, a part that wasn't bad. That blanket kept me warm whenever I didn't have one or anything to cover myself with. I take a look at Gloss one more time—his naked body is still in the same position as it was when I left the room—and I head to the front door again. Creek is still there in his race car pajamas. I wasn't even thinking if somebody could take him while I was getting my blanket. _I'm such a terrible mother._

"What about daddy?" he points at the hallway.

"Daddy didn't want to come," I lie.

"Why?" he questions.

"He's tired and is sleeping, sweetie," I say, "We have to go now."

"Okay."

I take one last look at the house—_I'm leaving this place for good. There's no turning back now. I have to leave without a doubt. If I don't leave, and Gloss sees us, he'll probably kill me and hurt Creek. This place is hell, and I have to find my heaven. _

I take in a deep breath, finally turn around and walk out of the doorway, and inaudibly shut the door.

* * *

**NOTES: This chapter is intense! I know some parts are a little too much but it just shows how much of a... jerk (I don't like to cuss) Gloss is. This chapter didn't take me long to write - it probably took me a little longer than the first one. But I noticed that I write better at night for some reason. I guess I easily get into the mood to write during the night? Well, in this chapter, Annie has finally decided to leave Gloss. Of course, she wasn't going to leave Creek behind. So yeah... And oh (this is for my ****_Convergent _****fans; if any of them are reading this) I still haven't updated that story but I promise I will soon. I feel like I'm abandoning that story but I promise I'm not. i'm almost finished with the chapter; I still have Writer's block with that story and it irritates me. But anyway, I hope you guys liked this chapter! Please review and thank you:)**

_**MeaganOneDirection: **_**Thank you for being my first reviewer! I literally smiled for like three hours when my mail thingy alert went off and I saw that it was a review for this. Thank you! And I hope you liked this chapter even more!:)**


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

I look at every single object we pass—trees, trash, houses, buildings, etc. I don't have a car, so I'm obviously using Gloss's. He never lets me drive it, and when he does, it's only when he literally can't drive, or when he wants me to pick him something up from the store. That's it.

I look at Creek sitting on the back seat, looking out the window, observing the objects fly by. I feel terrible for doing this, but it's for the best. I guess.

"Mommy," he speaks, "When is Daddy going to come with us?"

_I hope never._

"When he starts feeling better, sweetie," I say. "He's really sick right now and can't even get out of the bed."

"But he wasn't sick when we were eating?" he responds.

"Well…" I start to think of something. I absolutely hate lying to him—I know I don't like it when people lie to me. I absolutely hate it. "He got sick whenever he was going to sleep."

"How did he get sick?"

"The boogeyman gave him coodies."

I'm stupid and retarded, I know.

"Ew," he says, "Daddy has coodies, yuck!"

"I know," I say.

"Will the boogeyman come after us?" he asks.

"No, honey," I say, "We're going to a much better place."

"Candy Land," he smiles—I can see him through the rear-view mirror. "I can't wait 'til we get there. It's going to be so fun! I love you, mommy."

I feel something in my heart. My heart feels warmer, and I feel softer. I feel better.

"I love you too, Creek."

I keep driving us away and away and away until we make it out of San Bernardino. I've been living there since I met Gloss; so five years. Probably the worst five years of my life, besides living with my parents all those other years.

It takes us less than an hour to reach the next available town to put gas in. _That's right; I have money from life-savings. I have never once taken money from Gloss, ever. If I did, I probably wouldn't be alive today._

We're in Victorville right now, and I stop at the nearest gas station. I have exactly four-thousand, nine-hundred and eighty-nine dollars in cash with me. Whenever I was in college, well university, California State University, I worked part-time at a sandwich shop. Luckily, I got paid ten-dollars an hour, and got my paycheck every week. I worked a little before I attended college as well, too. But when I got pregnant, and had to drop out of college, I had to stop working. I worked a little after I gave birth to Creek, but Gloss made me stop. He said my job was around the house—keeping it clean and organized. I also had to stop because of Creek. We weren't going to send him to day-care or hire a babysitter. Gloss says that spending money on those things is useless, _that's why wives exist_, so he says.

"Is that all, ma'am?" a middle-age looking woman asks me when I'm checking out my things in the gas station.

"Yes," I say and take out two hundred dollar bills from my rag-so-called purse.

"You heading somewhere?" she asks.

"Yeah," I say and hand her the dollar bills.

"Vacation? It is the middle of May," she responds—I feel like she's asking too much.

"I'm visiting my parents for the week," I nod. "I haven't seen them in years."

"You're going to visit one of them at the graveyard and one in prison?" she asks and that's when fear strikes me. Shock, surprise, fright; everything strikes me. _What? _I think. _Did she just say that? How does she know my mom is dead? How does she know my dad is in prison?_ I grab the plastic bag that contains four bottles of water and a few snacks, and slowly start backing away.

"Don't you need your change?" she asks.

I reach my hand out but I don't want to look at her anymore. I don't want to. _I left Creek alone in the car!_ She hands me ten dollars and a few cents worth of change and that's when I rush out and step outside. That's when I hear her yell, "My name is Wiress! Call me sometime!"

I rapidly put gas in the car—over eighty gallons—and quickly drive off. Creek is still inside, and I'm thankful when I see that the streets are empty. I drive fast, to take advantage of the fact that there are no cops roaming around. I pass the speed limit, quickly driving off, trying to get out of the town. I officially do when almost four hours later, _7:55 _in the morning; we're in a town named Kingman. It's in Arizona and we barely got out of California like thirty or fifty minutes ago. I don't know, I didn't keep up, but I keep driving. I still have plenty of gas left. I look over my shoulder and see that Creek has fallen asleep; his little body is taking over the whole back seat. Seven hours later, we've arrived to Albuquerque, New Mexico. I read the time: _3:23 _in the afternoon. I decide to stop at a _Subway _near me. I'm craving a sandwich for some reason; thinking of my old job back at that sandwich shop in San Bernardino, it made me crave a sub. I pull over and manage to wake Creek up. _My goodness, he's so tired._

"Where are we?" he yawns and rubs his eyes.

"We're getting something really quick to eat," I say, pulling the door open and entering the shop. "What do you want?"

"Do they have candy here?" he responds.

"No, but they do have sandwiches here. And cookies for dessert. What kind of sandwich do you want?" I say.

"Aw man," he says, "Well, can I have cookies?"

"Sure, sweetie," I smile and turn to the lady who waits for me to order.

"Welcome to Subway, how can I help you?" she asks—she's short and has vicious eyes. I read her nametag and it says Clove.

"Can I have an Italian BMT foot long?" I ask, "And a six-inch black-forest ham?"

"What kind of bread?" she asks.

"On the foot long, I want wheat. On the six-inch, Italian." I order.

I watch her get the two kinds of breads and she asks me if I want them toasted or not. I decide that I don't. It doesn't take long to order, and I end up paying her with a twenty-dollar bill. She gives me nine dollars and a few cents as change and we quickly get out of there, enjoying half of each of our sandwiches. Of course, mine was the foot long and his was the six-inch. But I'm sure I won't be able to finish mine by myself, so I'll have to give Creek some of mine. Good thing he eats plenty of food. I see him eating his cookie first but I don't mind. After I eat a quarter of mine, I decide to keep driving. As I keep going, I know that Gloss has already found out that we're gone. He probably wants to murder me right now, and I don't blame him at all. If I was him, _Thank the Lord that I'm not_, I'd want to kill me too. I left my husband and took our child. I didn't do it for a selfish reason, but like I said, I did it for the best. I did it for the best of me; for the best of Creek, especially for him. It wasn't healthy for him to be living over there. It was kind of like how I lived with my parents. I don't want Creek to live that life—he clearly deserves better.

I move along forward, pressing the gas pedal harder and the car moves faster. I'm surprised there aren't many cars along the way—I haven't seen any cops but one this whole way so far. I keep heading the next miles down the road: fifty, sixty, and seventy, and so on and so on…

Creek did finish his sandwich so I decide to just leave the rest of mine for him. I'm not that hungry anyway and I need to concentrate on the road. I think of that lady, Wiress, from the gas station in Victorville. I still have no idea how she knows that background information about me. No one really knows about that, except the lady who called the police, my aunt and uncle, my parents (they're the reason), and of course, me. I haven't told anyone, and I don't want to mention it to Creek either. I just want to make sure he lives his whole life positive. I don't want him to end up like me.

Four and a half hours forward, and we're in Amarillo, Texas. I've never once in my life have been in Texas, ever. The weather is completely different—it was even more different in Arizona. It's kind of weird but makes sense at the same time. It's _8:21_. The sun hasn't completely gone down but it will in a matter of minutes. We've been in a car for over seventeen hours and I'm completely exhausted. But we have to keep moving, at least a little bit further. I don't want to be anywhere near California—Gloss can track us down easily like this. I keep driving for five more hours, and surprisingly, I haven't run out of gas but I think I'm about to… I pull over at the nearest gas station but this time, I don't make any interactions with anybody. I quickly go in, pay, done. Simple as that. I figure out that we're in Tulsa, Oklahoma. I never even noticed that we passed Oklahoma City. I guess I've been keeping track of going far and far, and I don't look around or look back. There's really no reason to.

"Mommy, where are we?" I notice that Creek is awake.

"We're in Tulsa, sweetheart," I say.

"Are we almost to Candy Land?" he asks.

I look down and think: _no Creek, we're not. We're nowhere near Candy Land. We're not even far away from your father. We're still too close. But we have to rest. We can keep going further in the morning._

The time is _1:43_. _Just go to sleep, Annie. _I think to myself. _Just sleep. You need sleep. You haven't slept in hours. Like you said, you can keep going in the morning. Please, just sleep._

"We're almost there." I tell Creek and drive into an alley. I don't park the car in the middle of it but find a space to the side. There's a large tree by where I park the car, so we'll have some shade in the morning and it won't get too hot. I unbuckle my seatbelt, turn off the car, and close my eyes, ready to enter into the world of darkness and hopefully, into my dreams.

* * *

**NOTES: Wow! 7 followers and 7 favorites! 5 reviews already as well! Sorry, I'm bragging but I just want to say thank you all! You guys are seriously the best! I also want to give a huge shoutout to my friend ****_Juliet's Shadow_****! Her story, ****_Search All of the Alaskan Sky for You, _****inspired me to write about Gloss and Annie being a married couple. You guys should definitely check her stories out; they're unbelievably amazing! You won't regret reading them! Also, in this chapter, Annie and Creek have finally escaped from Gloss. This chapter's pretty slow, kind of, but I just want to set the mood on how they are during the ride. Annie is happy but scared to death at the same time. Creek wants to go to his imaginary place called "Candy Land" and doesn't know what's really going on. I enjoyed writing this chapter and can't wait to hear you guy's opinions:) Thank you all again, and please review:)**

_**Juliet's Shadow: **_**Yay! Thank you so much for the shoutout! It was an honor to be mentioned in a highly-great story that's out of my league! I'm really glad you're enjoying this story and can't wait to see how it turns out for you:)**

_**Addicted1-Your-Story: **_**I'm glad you like it; thank you! Yeah, I agree that it's really depressing but it just shows how dark Annie's life is and has been. But don't worry, it'll get better:)**

**_Draco lover: _****Thanks!:) well, here's chapter 3 - hope you liked it! And chapter 4 will be updated really quick, because I already started it. I'm glad you like this!:)**


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4**

When I open my eyes, the sun is shining everywhere. It shines through the branches and leaves of the tree that slightly covers the car. It's not that hot though but I rub my eyes, drink a little bit of water, turn the car on, and drive off.

It's _7:49 _in the morning.

"Mommy, this is taking forever," Creek says. He sounds exhausted.

_Poor little thing._

"I'm sorry, sweetie," I say, "Look, I promise we'll stop by tonight."

"So we're getting to Candy Land tonight?"

"Sure."

Again, I hate all these lies I'm telling him. But I have to lie to him if he's going to continue this with me. I know I'm going to have to face the consequences when we get to wherever we're going, but I'm just trying to protect him. I love him.

I keep driving until we're finally out of Oklahoma. I feel like I'm traveling the country or the world—maybe I am. But I think of Gloss again—I'm terrified of what he's thinking right now. I took off; I left him. I took his own car; I took his son. But he's my son as well. I look back at him and he's swiftly asleep. He looks like an angel when he's sleeping.

When I make the next stop, we're in Missouri: St. Louis, Missouri. I check the time: _1:31_ in the afternoon. We've been on the road for over a day and still can't find a destination. Well I know a destination… to just get away from Gloss, completely.

"I'm tired," Creek says in a whiny tone. "Mommy, I want to get off already."

"Not yet," I tell him and make a stop at a random restaurant.

"Why are we here?" he asks.

"We have to eat," I say and get off the car, as well as him.

I hold his little hand as we enter the restaurant. It's more like a café.

"Welcome to Martha's, how can I help you?" a lady in front of a podium smiles as we walk in.

"Can we have a table for two?" I politely ask, and she doesn't hesitate but quickly finds us one. It's by a large window.

"My name is Portia, and I'll be your waitress for today. What would you guys like to drink?" she pulls out a small notebook and a pen.

"I'll have some iced tea, and my son will have some lemonade," I tell her before she writes it down and tells us that the drinks will arrive in a few seconds.

I look at Creek and he looks completely worn out. I feel so bad for him.

"Creek," I softly say, "Are you okay?"

He puts his head down and says, "I'm just tired. When are we going to get to Candy Land?"

I close my eyes and sigh.

"I told you we'll get there by tonight," I say.

He doesn't say anything else but lifts his head up again, and that's when our drinks arrive. I order a cheeseburger for me and chicken strips for Creek. Since there's hardly anyone here, our order is quickly prepared.

"Aren't you hungry?" I ask Creek when I notice that he's hardly eating, after our food has arrived. He's probably still full from the Subway sandwiches.

"Not really," he says and leans his head against his hand.

"Honey, is something bothering you?" I feel like I'm bothering him, that I'm the case.

"I just miss daddy," he says and that's when pure guilt hits me. _I took him away from his only dad._

"He'll be here in a few days," I tell him, "Don't worry."

"Did you bring my toys?" he changes the subject. _I'm glad._

"Of course I did," I say, "I brought your favorite ones only though."

He frowns but quickly says, "Aw man. I guess it's okay."

Creek is the only person who makes me happy, who makes me turn my frown upside down, who always puts a smile on my face and lets me believe that there's still something good in my life. He's the only good thing left.

After we finish our food, we quickly get out of the café or restaurant and I keep driving us until we're almost out of gas. I'm surprised we're not even empty yet—those eighty something gallons must've helped a lot. It's _3:31 _when we arrive to the next place. It's Springfield, Illinois, which is only about two hours away from St. Louis. I stop at the nearest gas station and quickly fill up ten gallons, but for some reason, I don't keep driving. Instead, I stop at a motel nearby and decide to check-in.

"This isn't Candy Land," says Creek when we enter our room.

"It actually is. It's still being fixed," I say.

"Is it going to take long?" he asks.

"I don't know." I simply reply and go outside to get our suitcases. I take a look around and think: _this place is pretty calm. I mean, I've never been anywhere else but California or Virginia. Of course, I was in Arizona, New Mexico, Texas, Oklahoma, and Missouri during this trip. But now, we're in Illinois and I've never met a place as peaceful as this._

I go back inside and shut the door, locking it. _Just in case. _I bite my lip to keep my nervousness low, and to keep my mouth shut from saying anything to Creek. The room is simple. It's rectangular-shaped. There is a bed against the wall to the left. There's a T.V. facing it on the wall to the right. At the end of the room, there are two sinks and a door to the right. I assume it's the bathroom, because there's another door right next to where you walk in, and it has to be the closet. I also see a small refrigerator and a microwave. It's casual but perfect for the two us. It's not fancy, it's not royal-looking, it's not out-of-this world, but the simple setting just makes it alright for both Creek and I.

Creek turns on the television and begins watching cartoons. I, on the other hand, set the suitcases down and let my body drop on the bed. As I look at the ceiling, something pops into my mind. I start to think of everything in my life: Gloss, Creek; everything; my life. The sound of the cartoons just makes me realize that this could be my chance, my new life… my "Candy Land". It makes me realize that we're far enough—we don't have to keep going further. This place is perfect. I decide to close my eyes and that's when I make my final decision.

_We're home._

* * *

**NOTES: Two chapters in one day!:D This is the shortest chapter I've written by far, and I promise you that the next to come will be longer. When I write two chapter in one day, I tend to make one of the chapters short. But when I'm in like a good writing mood, I do write a lot of chapters, and they all end up being long. I haven't been in the greatest writing mood lately, but I write what I feel like writing. Anyway, enough of that, let's get to this! This was another pretty slow chapter. Annie has just discovered that Springfield is the perfect place for her and Creek. It's calm and pretty quiet. Of course, they're not going to live in that motel, but Annie will get a job soon. Also, in case any of you are wondering, Katniss, Peeta, Gale, and them will be in this story. They just won't have big roles - they also won't have small roles, but they'll have "average"-roles. Yeah, so I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter and thank you all so much, especially to my 8 followers and favorites! Please leave a review if you can:)**

_**nic:**_** Thank you! I'm glad you like this story and I hope I can make it better. About the cussing, I did notice that it doesn't fit Annie, and it does make her a little OOC. So I won't make her cuss... as much. But again, thank you! And please review again if you can!:)**

_**Juliet's Shadow:**_** Chapter 4's here! I hope you enjoyed this one as well:D I haven't texted you back, because I've been writing this and you're at RTD, so I guess we both have things to do. XD Anyway, thank you so much and I hope this is getting better for you:)**


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5**

I wake when I feel cold. I slide my hand, seeking Creek's warmth but I only feel the coldness of the mat. He's watching the television, watching his favorite cartoon show: _SpongeBob SquarePants._

"Honey," I open my eyes wider, so I won't be able to fall asleep again.

"What, mommy?" he responds, focused on the television.

"What time did you wake up?"

"I don't know."

I don't really care though; at least he got his sleep for the night. He's had enough sleep—unlike me. But I'm not complaining.

I get up and quickly make the bed. It's not too small, but Creek and I barely fit. The only good thing is that Creek is small, so he can fit pretty much everywhere. I make myself some quick coffee, organize everything else, and sit on the bed, joining Creek to watch television. I haven't watched television in weeks. Gloss says that my job is not to watch T.V. He says that if I watch television, I'm wasting my time. I kind of agree with him, but when it has been a long day, and I feel like watching television, I disagree.

We only have two televisions in Gloss's house: one in the living room, and one in his room, _our room, or whatever._ Creek hardly ever watched television back home—he'd usually spend his time playing with his toys in his room or riding his tricycle outside around the small curb. It wasn't my business to be outside, unless there was something for me to do.

"So when are we getting to Candy Land?" Creek suddenly turns around to look at me.

I bite my lip and try not to answer him. _I can't help it._

"Sweetie," I sigh. I shouldn't tell him this. I shouldn't tell him. I shouldn't tell him. _My goodness, Annie. You're such a terrible mother._

"Sweetie," I repeat, "We're not going to Candy Land. I don't even think there is a Candy Land, besides the game. We had to come here for various personal reasons, and I had to take you with me. I'm doing this for you, Creek. I am and I know that you don't understand… But you're going to have to trust me."

I can see little Creek scowl. _This isn't good._

"What?" he gets up and throws his little action figure, that he had with him as he watched television, on the ground hard. "Mommy, you promised! Why did we have to come here? Why couldn't you just make me take a bath? Daddy was right about you; you are a bad mommy! I don't like you. I wish I was with dad right now! I love him more!"

I feel a lump in my throat. I feel the tear that's flowing down my cheek, oh; I feel another, and another, and another. I can't stop. My heart burns; it's like literally in flames right now. My body is so stiff that I can't feel it; I can't feel anything except my heart hurting. I wish I was just not born into this world.

All I can hear is Creek sobbing on the ground, kicking the floor and the wall. _I really shouldn't have told him._ I can't stand the sight of this, the sight of Creek crying, and he's crying hard. It feels like I just hit him, like Gloss would hit me. I remember one day when Gloss and I went over to his friend's and he told me to join him. After I didn't speak to any of them that whole time, when we were leaving and barely getting in the car, he punched my nose. I kept bleeding for like the next hour until it finally stopped—I felt like all of my blood was going to disappear. I felt like I was going to die; I was running out of the whole blood in my body.

That's how Creek probably feels right now. I didn't hurt him physically, but I hurt him emotionally. _Both physical and emotional pain, are equal._

"Creek," I manage to get up and wipe all of my tears away, "Sweetie, I didn't mean to do that to you. I'm sorry—it's just, you dad and everything—"

"You just hate daddy," he interrupts me through all of his tears, "He hates you too."

"I know," I simply say, "But that doesn't mean that I hate you."

"If you don't, why did you bring me here?" he asks.

"Because I love you."

He doesn't say anything else but wipes his tears away with both of his small hands. I help him by getting a soft tissue and wipe the rest. He seems to have recovered a little; I'm not. I don't even know if I can ever be recovered by all of my messes. But I don't care. All I care about is Creek, and if something happens to him, I'm not sure how I'll be able to live.

"I'm sorry, sweetie," I tell him again, because I truly am. I truly am sorry for lying to him, for hurting him, for making him believe and promising to give him something, but not. I'm just sorry to my own son, my only son.

"It's okay, mommy," he wipes my last tear for me, "But I'm only going to say sorry this time. Next time, say it to someone else."

I laugh as he smiles and I pull him in for a huge hug. I feel like I'm squeezing him too hard but I don't care; I just want to show him how much I love him. _He's mine._

"I love you, honey," I say.

"You say that too much," he scowls, "But I love you too."

By the time it's the afternoon, our suitcases are empty, and our clothes and belongings are sorted out. There aren't that many drawers in the room, but I don't have many shirts or pants, so I just managed to fit everything together into two drawers. Creek has the rest of the drawers, but I don't mind. Of course I don't mind! He's supposed to have everything I didn't. I want to give him a good childhood and life. I want to give him everything my parents didn't give me.

"Are these all the toys you brought?" Creek asks me as he takes a look at them.

"Yes, honey," I say as I fold a pair of pants. "I only brought the ones that you use the most."

"But I use all of them," he says.

"Well, I brought your favorites."

"If you brought my favorites, you would've only brought my Batman."

I brought every single one of his superhero action figures—he plays with those the most.

"You have your Batman right there," I point at the action figure he's holding.

"Where's my Spider-Man?" he questions.

"Check in the furniture next to the bed, second drawer," I tell him and he doesn't say anything but rapidly goes and gets it. I haven't seen him this calm in days. Well, weeks—he usually didn't look calm back home, because Gloss would always be yelling. He was always scared of him, or us. I don't know, but now he's completely fine. However, I don't like saying the word _completely _right now.

I check the time and it says _5:13_. I look at Creek, and to my surprise, he's already dressed. He was wearing his race-car pajamas the whole way here, so like a day and a half—something like that. I didn't even notice that he had changed; I'm just so tired right now.

"Hey Creek," I speak, "You want to go check this city out?"

He nods and we rush out of the room. When we step outside, it's empty and quiet. I quickly lock the door before we make our way to the car. I feel like something can happen at any time; that's why I'm doing everything so quickly. I feel like Gloss might show up at any second; and that's when another thought crosses my mind. _What if Gloss has reported me to the police? What if he told the police that I escaped and took our son? What if he revealed everything to the police? If I go further than this, it wouldn't make a difference. Besides, he doesn't know where I am, and I don't know how the whole tracking system works. _I'm not sure if what I'm doing is illegal or not, but I'm not going back with Gloss. I'm not and I literally can't. Like I said a billion times, I'm not just doing this for me. I'm doing it for Creek.

I don't even understand why Gloss would want me anyway. He's called me useless, worthless; everything negative that you could think of. I still don't understand why I even married him, or why I dated him… Wait, I do. I do know why I dated him. I dated him because he somehow attracted me. I don't know exactly what it was: his eyes, his hair, his skin… I don't know. But when we started talking, I guess I fell in love with his voice or his sweetness. But that sweetness wasn't real—his sweetness was just the key to get what he wanted. It worked, but when I pressed him with my pregnancy, I noticed the look in his eyes, the look of him wanting to abandon me. _Why didn't he? Why didn't he just leave me after he used me? He was, and I guess still is, a good-looking guy. He could've easily pulled off another girl, like he did me. _Why did he choose to stay? The look in his eyes that day just told me that he didn't want anything to do with me anymore, but he chose to stay, and to this day, I have no idea why.

While I was pregnant, he took me out to watch the sunset with him at the beach. He told me all these things, all these sweet things that made me fall in love with him all over again. I still remember every second of that day; I'm just not sure if it's a good thing or a bad thing.

"I can't believe you're having a baby?" he said, looking out at the sun, "I mean, our baby, or your baby, whatever."

I gazed at the sun as well; it looked beautiful. The sky resembled fire, flames—like a blue and pink flower were burning but then turning into a complete dark blue-to-black color. I enjoyed and still do, watching sunsets.

"You know, I never even thought I would ever have a kid," he continued, "I thought I would just be one of those guys who will never get married, or one of those guys who gets married and chooses not to have any kids."

We exchanged quick glances before he went on saying, "And now, that I'm twenty-one, barely starting my life, we have a baby coming."

I felt guilty but he was much the blame. We were both equally guilty.

"I know," I said, looking at the waves of the darkening-blue ocean. "I actually always wanted a kid, but not at this age. I know I just turned twenty, but I still feel like a teenager. I mean, a month ago, I was nineteen. I just never saw this coming, especially at this time."

"How far are you?" he asked, meaning my pregnancy.

"Just three weeks," I said; it had barely been three weeks the day before.

"Just think," he said, "In less than nine months, our baby is going to be in your hands."

I looked at him with an odd look before I responded with, "My hands? Our baby is going to be in your hands too."

We both laughed when all of the sudden, he gently grabbed my hand. I shivered a little, but I liked it. I didn't want him to let go.

"Annie," he said, "You know I love you, right?"

I did, but now, I know that he was lying. I was just a stupid twat back then. _I still am._

"Yes," I said, "You know how I know? Because, I love you too."

I thought I was being cheesy, but then again, all couples are cheesy sometimes. He smiled and slowly leaned in before his lips touched mine. It felt good—feeling his soft lips touching mine, and tasting his sweet lips all over again. I closed my eyes and wrapped my arms around him, touching his muscular back as he touched my cheeks with both of his hand, slowly leaning me against my back. I ran my hands down his back as he ran his fingers down to my legs. He kept kissing me and kissing me; I even felt his lips on my neck and chest. It gave me slight pleasure, which made me scratch his back a little. It didn't seem to affect or bother him. So I kept doing it for a little until he went back up and kissed my lips again. That's when my hands went up to the back of his head and I ran my hands around his hair. It felt like the moment wouldn't stop until the sun officially went down and we were back in the car, slowly driving off.

I gasp a little as I make a stop. _He was using me, even that time too. He's always been using me. _I'm not his wife—I'm not his love. I'm more of his object; I'm more of his toy that he picks up and throws back down when he's finished with it. I was always that and always will be. This is when I know that there is still someone out there. My true love is out there still somewhere. It's just difficult to find him—it's not as easy as finding a city on a map. I wish it was as easy as that but it's not. But I just know that he's out there somewhere; _is he looking for me? If he waiting for me? _I don't know. But I have to do whatever I can to find him, or for him to find me.

_I just don't know if I'm good enough for him._

* * *

**NOTES: Chapter 5's here! I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter; I decided to do a flashback scene to show you guys how much Gloss of a fake he is. He's a real jerk and doesn't even deserve a girl like Annie - in my opinion. But in case you guys are wondering, Finnick'll show up really, really, really soon;) Thank you guys so much and please leave a review:D**

_**Raina4Ever: **_**I'm really excited that you find this story interesting. It's really exciting how my ****_Convergent_**** fans are reading this story, which is the complete opposite of the theme in ****_Convergent_****. I hope you enjoyed this chapter and please review again:) (You're one of my favorite fans!:D)**

_**Juliet's Shadow:**_** Thank you so much! That whole Ty thing - Gloss is exactly like him. Gloss uses girls just to get what he wants and it makes him a complete coward. I hope you loved this chapter!:) (You're one of my favorite fans too;) And you're a VIP!)**

_**Dracolover: **_**Yay! I'm so glad you like this story! It makes me happy when I see new people reviewing and taking a look at my story:D Please review again, and thank you so much!:)**

_**MeaganOneDirection: **_**I'm excited that you love this:) I'm also glad that you think Creek is cute;) However, in this chapter, we get a mean side of him but it's just because he's disappointed. I hope you liked this chapter and can't wait to see your feedback:) Thanks!:)**


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6**

I drive through different types of neighborhoods—high-class neighborhoods, middle-class, even the low-class ones. I look at the rear-view mirror and see that Creek's eyes are attached to the window. He doesn't look too bored, but I know that I should make things interesting.

"Want to go get some ice cream?" I happily ask him.

"Can I get chocolate?" he quickly and excitedly responds.

"Sure, sure," I smile and steer to the right, heading to the closest ice cream shop.

This town has greenery written all over it. I haven't seen any leafless trees or any burnt trees. Every single tree that we've passed, it has leaves on it. Every single bush is bushy as it should be; green as well. The grass is green; the sidewalks and the roads aren't littered up. Everything is perfect about this city. I'm glad I didn't choose to keep going further. I'm extremely glad.

The ice cream shop isn't full; there are only four cars parked and some of them are, I assume, the workers'. I pull over and quickly get Creek out of the car. He seems super excited about getting ice cream—I understand why. Back at home, the only times we would get ice cream was when Gloss wanted some. As you can see, Gloss hardly ever ate ice cream, which meant if he didn't want any, we didn't eat any.

We quickly order each of our ice cream; of course, he gets chocolate and I get vanilla. We decide to stay and take a seat by the window.

"How do you like it?" I ask him, meaning how he likes his ice cream. I can tell he loves it by the way he's quickly eating it. So I have no idea why I'm even asking.

"Never mind," I smile and keep eating mine. Creek's face is filled with chocolate ice cream; the sticky brown substance is all over, around his mouth. But I don't mind—as long as he's enjoying it.

When we're done, I take Creek everywhere he wants to go—I take him to the park for a while first, the toy store, another park, and even go to the movies! I forget about everything but Creek; I even manage to forget about Gloss… until now. Before we head back to the motel, it's already dark and I stop at the nearest gas station to pump more gas—I'm finally almost empty, but I guess it's alright. I still have enough money to support Creek and myself; however, I still need to get a job real soon. Perhaps I can work at another sandwich shop here—maybe they pay high enough, but I can start at minimum-wage; it's something, at least. I wait until the tank is full but just as I'm getting in the car, someone touches my shoulder. _Nobody was even parked here._

"Excuse me, ma'am," a man's voice says. He doesn't sound old or young; in between. I look at the tan-colored muscular arm and it leads to me to the most handsome and beautiful face I've ever seen in a man. He has sea-green eyes and bronze hair. What attracts me the most, of course, are his beautiful sea-green eyes… I've never seen anything like them. I haven't been this blinded by anything else since I first met Gloss—_I know, I was incredibly stupid back then._

"Hi…" I shyly say.

He smiles a little, showing off his incredibly white teeth.

"Hi," he says, he smiles even more. "What's your name?"

"Well…" I start to say. I just can't tell him my real name. I can't tell anyone what my name is. _What if they report me?_ I straighten up; clear my throat, and say, "Ann."

He nods and I notice that he keeps looking at me; looking down from my feet, to my legs, to my stomach, hopefully not to my breasts, and then to my face again. I don't know why he keeps looking at me anyway; my body isn't even worth a guy's attraction. My face isn't even pretty enough. Why does this handsome man keep looking at me?

"Why, hello Ann," he offers me his hand, "I'm Finnick Odair."

I shake it two times before I say, "Nice name."

_My goodness, Annie! "Nice name."? Is that all you know what to say? Wow, you're such a complete boring brat!_

I bite my lip and look down at the ground—the cement, the dark gray of it is somehow worth the watch. But Finnick gently touches my chin and lifts my head up nicely. That's when I melt and he says, "Don't look down. Pick your head up; your delightful face should be revealing to the world. You are an angel sent from the heavens; don't look down. Look up and show that wonderful face to everyone."

I melt once again. _Why is a handsome man like this guy, Finnick, saying all these lies to me? Is he playing me?_

"Stop," I gently remove his hand away from my chin. "Stop it."

He raises one of his perfectly shaped eyebrows, _those perfect eyebrows… those perfect eyes… his perfect face…_

"My apologies," he says and licks his upper lip. _Oh, my. _"So are you new here?"

I look around and take a quick glance at Creek. He's just looking at the both of us with not one expression on his face. He looks completely fine. I can't tell Finnick that I'm new here or anything possibly factual about my life, except that Creek is my son, but that's it. I may even have to make up another name for Creek; I just don't know what.

"No," I say, "I've been living here for two years."

"This is a nice place," he responds, "Perfect for a family, perhaps even a mother and a son."

That's when I look at Creek again. He's not looking at me but at Finnick.

"Who is that little fella?" Finnick smiles, waving at Creek.

_Creek. Creek. What's another name for my little Creek? Another name that'll suit him… _I have no idea what to tell him; maybe I just have to wing it. What am I talking about? Of course I have to wing it! _Come on, Annie. Come on, you can come up with the name that will disguise Creek. Come on._ A light suddenly flicks on in my brain—I got it.

"This is Hammil," I finally say. Hammil was what I wanted to name him. But like I said before, Gloss decided Creek. However, I do love Creek. It's probably the only thing that I love that Gloss came up with. Not only that, but Creek is also something I love so much that Gloss created. Well, I created him too, but you get the picture.

"Hammil, sweetie," I say, trying not to sound sarcastic or anything, smiling at Creek but he looks more discombobulated than ever.

"Mommy, who—" I interrupt him and nicely get him out of the car.

"Excuse me, Finnick, um…" I try to come up with an excuse to talk to Creek alone for a second. _Ugh, I lie way too much. _"Um… he gets shy around new people and I always have to talk to him before he meets anyone. It's a little issue he has but he's getting better at it, so just excuse us for a little bit."

I nicely pull Creek behind the car and as quietly as possible, try to explain him to pretend that his name is Hammil. He questions me at first but then, I tell him that we're playing a little game and that's when he agrees and we walk back over to Finnick.

"Hello little dude," Finnick smiles and offers Creek his hand.

"Hi… big dude," Creek says, fragilely shaking Finnick's hand, Finnick's hand is huge compared to his.

"I'm Finnick," he says, "Your mom told me that your name is Hammil. Here," he reaches into his pocket and takes out a small bouncy ball. "This has been my bouncy ball since I was your size. I want you to have it."

Creek's face turns into a huge smile that I feel like the sides of his mouth are going to rip, due to the dilation.

"Cool!" he says as he takes the ball, still smiling.

"Now Cree—Hammil," I smile and laugh awkwardly. _God, Annie! You're so stupid!_ "What are you supposed to say now?"

"Oh uh…" he scratches the back of his little head, "Uh… you're awesome, man!"

"Thanks, little man," Finnick smiles and pets Creek's head.

"Oh yeah!" Creek says, "Thanks!"

I smile as well as Finnick and that's when Creek gets back in the car. It's the two of us alone again, kind of.

"So," I say, "What about you? Are you new here?"

Finnick looks up at the dark sky, the stars above. I haven't seen them in a while—at Gloss's, I couldn't even step outside for a second or stare out the window. I look up at the sky as well and stare at the beautiful and heavenly stars. There are so many of them, so many stars out there. It's like heaven in the sky, like the stars are small angels looking down at us, protecting us and when there are no stars in the sky, it's like the demons are unleashed. It's like no angels are out there and danger travels all among us. But tonight, we're safe.

At San Bernardino, right above Gloss's house, there were probably never stars in the sky.

"I barely moved here a couple of months ago," Finnick says when we both look at each other again. I get to look at his beautiful eyes again.

"How do you like it?" I ask.

"It's peaceful and just nice. There are also many, many beautiful and gorgeous women here. But none of them are near as beautiful as your lovely face."

_Crap. What do I do? What should I say? How do I react? Wait, I am reacting right now. Ugh, this is how Gloss was!_

"Look," I look down, "If this is some of your tricks, please stop. I don't want to be your girl for the night."

He laughs and gives me a seductive smile. I shiver but try to control myself.

"In case you're wondering, I've only had one girlfriend," he says.

_One girlfriend? _I don't believe him; he's clearly handsome and can easily get a girl anytime he wants! How can he only have had one girlfriend in his whole lifetime? It would be like if I was Gloss's only girlfriend when we dated. I'm surprised he doesn't have any ex-wives, even though we both got married young.

"Ha," I say, "Join the club. I've only had one boyfriend."

I shouldn't have said that.

"Only one?" he asks, "Look at you…"

"I know," I roll my eyes, "I'm not pretty. I don't have the perfect body. I know; I understand."

"No," he says, "You're the opposite of that."

I laugh and that's when he gets close to me—his face is only centimeters away from mine, our noses are technically already touching, our lips are only millimeters apart. I suddenly feel his hand moving part of my dark hair back and he runs the back of his index finger down my forehead, down the side of my nose, and down my lips. This is when I shiver even more and our eyes connect—my ugly brown ones looking right into his beautiful sea-green ones. It's like we're somehow connecting, getting to know each other emotionally or spiritually. I don't know.

_But I somehow don't want this moment to stop; even though I just met this man, I feel like I have known him my whole life._

"Call me sometime," he says, his lips nearly, just nearly almost touch mine when he speaks.

I nod and shortly afterwards, I'm back in the car while he disappears into the darkness. He didn't park his car in front of the gas station but by it. I still have no idea why he even stopped to talk to me—I just don't. I still don't even understand how Gloss even married me. He really didn't have to. Overall, I just don't see any guy with me. I don't see a guy marrying me in the future and stay. I don't see one who really loves me and cares for me. I just don't see anything like that and can't even think like that. Finnick Odair probably won't even talk to me ever again; next time I see him, if I do, he probably will not even recognize me. He'll say he doesn't know who I am and flee. Easy as that.

I wipe away the tear that's flowing down my cheek before I start the car and head straight to the motel. Everything Finnick said about me is false, but what he's correct about is this city. This city is nice and calm, at least where we're at. This place is mine and Creek's home. But in this place, we're not Annie and Creek. Annie and Creek belong to our old lives, our old home. In this place, in this new life, we're something new.

We're Ann and Hammil.

* * *

**NOTES: It's so hot outside! Like if I'm not in the shade, for like 10 seconds, my skin's already on fire! I don't like exaggerating hot weather... But anyway, I just finished this chapter like 30 minutes ago and we finally got Finnick! He was being super flirty and stuff, but you guys want to know why? Because he fell in love with Annie. Annie doesn't believe him though, but Finnick really likes her at this moment, despite the fact that they just met! Ah... Gotta love Finnick and Annie. Oh and I had trouble coming up with another name for Creek. Annie was easy, of course and obviously, but Creek... I just had to think for like 5 hours! Not one single name fitted him right, so I just went ahead and came up with my own XD It's cheesy but it's all good. I love how he and Finnick interacted; I thought it was a nice moment. So thank you all and hope you guys enjoyed this pretty-decent chapter; please leave a review:) Oh, and one last thing! The next chapter will be a little different; by that, I mean that it won't be written by me. It'll be a bonus chapter written by my amazing and talented good friend ****_Juliet's Shadow_****. In case you guys haven't checked her out, please do! Her stories are incredibly awesome and amazing! Y'all won't regret reading them:) So keep that in mind: next chapter will be a bonus chapter.**

_**krikanalo: **_**I'm glad your liking this story. Hope you liked this chapter:)**

_**Juliet's Shadow:**_** Your Finnick is here!;) now don't make out with him now...;)... not yet;D I hope you enjoyed this chapter and can't wait to see the bonus!**

_**Raina4Ever:**_** You understand Annie so well; she is a good mother but just doesn't see it. I hope you liked Finnick;) especially the last part and the part with Creek:D those parts were fun to write about and I hope you enjoyed this chapter overall! Thank you so much! And I'm also glad you understood Creek's reaction in the last chapter-we did have to see it soon.**

_**MeaganOneDirection: **_**Poor little Creek, but then again, it's for his own safety. I hope you enjoyed this chapter, where we finally got Finnick!;) I'm glad you're liking this and hope it's getting better for you:)**

_**Draco lover:**_** I'm glad you understand!:) it is a hard choice but she had to do it. And now, she found Finnick... ah... Finnick and Annie;) I hope you liked this chapter, and I'm super glad you're anxious for more of this story!:)**


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter 7**

**Gloss**

I open my eyes and feel the side of the bed. My good for nothing wife –just a fee loading bitch who took advantage of the fact I got her pregnant- is not there. She must be with Creek. I don't know why I named our son that. Maybe because it reminds me of water and Annie loves water. I want it to be a constant reminder to the mistake she made. It is all her fault. "Annie? Annie, where the hell are you?"

There isn't any answer. I look outside to see that the car is gone. Damn. The bitch tried to run. She's an idiot. I will always find her. I need to make her suffer in the way she made me suffer. I go away from the window and walk to the bedroom, where my phone is on the nightstand charging. I scroll down my contacts until I reach the contact information for Glimmer, one of my sister's roommates and the girl I have been seeing on the side for about a year. She answers the phone in an overly perky voice. "Hey babe!"

I roll my eyes and frown but she can't see it. "Hey! So, love of my life, I need a huge favor."

I can hear the smile and the estrogen from her side of the phone to mine. "Anything for my Snuggle Bear!"

"My wife, the one I'm planning on leaving once she provides me with enough money so you and me can be together, left. I would really love it if you let me borrow your car. I'm sure Cashmere wouldn't mind driving you around until I got back." I have my most charming voice on and am trying to get her to do what I want. It always works.

"Alright, babe. Anything for you. I mean, how could that bitch walk out on you? You provided everything for her, am I right? I'll be over at your house as soon as I get clothes on. I'm just in my bra and thong." She says. I smile at this.

"Babe, can't you just drive over like that?" I pause. I love seeing her naked, but she can't drive around like that, but a bra and thong would be pretty dang close. Besides, we can take it all off once I drop her back off at her house anyway. She has the nicest ass and the biggest tits I have ever seen. It is why I keep the dumb slut around. She knows how to provide.

She giggles from her side of the line. "Anything for you babe." She hangs up and I go to the closet, where I grab all my wife beater shirts and blue jeans, stuff them in a bag and put my socks in there as well. I then grab my credit and debit cards. I don't have a limit to how much I can spend. There are at least six different stolen identities here. I can spend however much I want.

I hear a car horn beep as soon as I finish stuffing everything into my bag. I plaster a fake smile onto my face and walk outside to see Glimmer, in her bright red Ferrari, top down, in nothing but her sparkly pink lacy matching set of pink bra and underwear and a pair of sparkly pink stripper heels. She looks like the definition of whore, but I don't give a damn. She is way hotter than the bitch that left me and I can get way more out of her than I ever did out of Annie. I can actually remember meeting her.

"Damn! Who are they?" I look to the side to see my friend Brutus looking at a pair of girls, a tall ginger with bright red hair pulled back into a pony tail, wearing skinny jeans, a blue Doctor Who t-shirt and a pair of bright red vans. She was hot but she had no tits. The girl beside her was smaller, straight dark brown hair falling in layers framing her face and brown eyes. She wore a light brown flannel shirt and dark boot cut blue jeans with winged peace signs on the back pockets, making her ass look nicer, and a pair of white sequined Sperry's.

"Dude, I don't know, but they are hot." I say back to him, my eyes on the brunette. I am glad Brutus has his eye on the ginger. "I will bet you three hundred dollars I will lay the brunette before you can do the same to the ginger." I tell my best friend. He holds his hand out for a handshake.

"You're on. You are not going to get a girl like that to want to go out with a guy like you. Look at you! You're going to scare them off." He says, pointing to my black, unzipped hoodie and Metallica shirt. I have bad boy written all over me.

I smirk. "I'll go change and you talk to them, get to know them. I'll be back." I go to the dorm Brutus and I share and change out of my black t-shirt and hoodie and into a clean and nice looking polo shirt. I change from Bad Boy to prep in a matter of moments, just by changing shirts and my hair. I go back downstairs, where I see Brutus point me out to the girls, both of which giggle.

"Gloss, this is Jackie, but everyone calls her Foxface," he says motioning to the ginger. I reach out and shake her hand, putting a charming smile on for her. "And this is her best friend and roommate, Annie." I take Annie's hand in mine and kiss it.

I look up and see her with a blushing smile and a glancing look with Foxface. I pretend to put an inquisitive look. "Now what are you two doing here? Shouldn't you be in Milan? That is where all the modeling majors go."

They giggle and quickly correct me. Annie is majoring in Theater and Foxface is majoring in Music while both are minoring in English Literature. It doesn't take Brutus and I too long to figure out the girls are very passionate about Theater, Music and writing. Both have Fanfiction accounts, surprisingly. Neither of them looks like the smart, creative writer type. Still, it becomes more and more apparent the mission at hand and winning three hundred dollars will be easy.

If I knew what mess that would've gotten me into, I wouldn't have ever offered it. Annie became a whiny bitch and wasn't as hot as I thought she was. She just had tits and an ass. Well, when I find her, I'll make her life a living hell. The bitch is nothing but trouble.

**Creek**

Mommy always seems so sad. She is always looking at me sad, like she wants to cry. I feel bad for Mommy. Still, I can tell she is trying to make me happy. She is a good mommy. She wants me to be happy, but she would take me to see Daddy if she really wanted me to be happy. I can tell Daddy scares her though. I will sometimes see him hit her. He will hit her harder than when he hits me with a wooden spoon when I get in trouble. "Want to go get some ice cream?" I hear Mommy say. Yum!

I love ice cream. I get it when Daddy says I can, which isn't a lot. Daddy doesn't like ice cream but I do, so he will sometimes get it if he is in a good mood so I can have a yummy snack. That is what he tells me anyway. "Can I get chocolate?"

"Sure, sure." Mommy says. I pick up my Batman and Spiderman toys out of my bag because I think they will want ice cream too. Before too long we pull into a big ice cream place that smells like cookies and I'm sure has a bunch of different flavors. All I want is chocolate though.

Mommy gets me a big kids bowl and sets it down on the ice cream bar while she pays. I let Spiderman and Batman try bites of my ice cream before I do, then I dig in. I just eat and eat and eat! "How do you like it?" I just keep eating, but I look up and smile at her. "Never mind." Mommy smiles. I did something to make Mommy smile!

"Where do you want to go next, Creek?" Mommy asks while she puts me in my car seat. We go to the park and Mom lets me play soccer with her. She is better than me, but one day I will be better than her. I then want to go to the toy store and Mommy buys me a new Superman toy, a Wolverine toy and a football. Then she takes me to another park so we can play with my new football. She is better at Football than me too but I'll be better than her too. Then Mommy takes me to the movie where I can see the new Wolverine movie. It is scary and they say some bad words that I hear Daddy say sometimes, but I like it a lot. The red head girl was kick butt! We even see a movie trailer for the movie Mommy is really excited for. She said it's called Fire Catch or Catching Fire or something.

At the end, before we can go to bed, we have to go get gas for the car so it can go fast. I am playing with Spiderman and Batman and Superman when I see someone go over to Mommy. "Excuse me ma'am." I can hear him because Mommy rolled the windows down so I didn't get hot.

He looks really cool, like a super hero. Maybe he is a hero that came to save me and Mommy! "Hi…" Mommy says. Why is she scared? There is a super hero that will help us.

He smiles and I get to see how cool he looks. He looks like he could fly. I bet he is a flying superhero. Maybe he can set things on fire with his mind. "Hi. What's your name?" He asks Mommy. Wow! He is so cool!

"Well…" Mommy is being really slow to answer, but I don't know why. She coughs. "Ann." Mommy's name is Annie. Not Ann. Maybe it is a shorter name as a nickname.

The man looks at mom, probably to make sure she isn't a villain. She isn't. She is like the girl that the superhero always ends up with; pretty and nice. "Why hello Ann." He holds a hand out to Mommy. "I'm Finnick Odair." Finnick. Finnick sounds like fin. Fish have fins. Maybe he is like Aquaman and can control water!

"Nice name." Mommy says. She probably thinks he is an underwater hero too! Mommy starts to duck her head like she is shy. Mommy is always shy. She said she used to not be, but after she met Daddy, she became shy.

Finnick, the Master of the Underwater Seas, touches her chin and lifts it up kindly. "Don't look down. Pick your head up; your delightful face should be revealing to the world. You are an angel sent from the heavens; don't look down. Look up and show that wonderful face to everyone." Mommy smiles, but looks slightly worried. Did Super Finnick say something wrong?

She takes his hand away from her face. "Stop. Stop it." He lifts an eyebrow curiously. Maybe he is trying to figure out what villain has us.

"My apologies." Mommy bites her lower lip and he licks his upper one. "So are you new here?" I want to answer for her, but I'm not sure what she wants to tell Finnickman. She might think he is a villain, but I know he isn't.

She finally makes herself say something though. "No. I've been living here two years." I'm confused now. We haven't. Is this our new home?

"This is a nice place. Perfect for a family, perhaps even a mother and son." That's a weird thing for him to say. Maybe he likes Mommy. Mommy doesn't have cooties. Percy Finnick waves at me. "Who is this little fella?"

Mommy doesn't answer for a couple seconds but she finally says, "This is Hammil." Hammil? Who is Hammil? "Hammil, sweetie," She says, coming closer to me. "Mommy, who-"

"Excuse me, Finnick, umm…" Mommy pauses, again. Why is she pausing so much? "Um… he gets shy around new people and I always have to talk to him before he meets anyone. It's an issue he has but he's getting better at it, so just excuse us for a little bit."

Mommy pulls me out of the car and to the side where she is whispering. "Creek, we're playing a game. We're superheros, so no one can know our real name. Can you pretend to be Hammil?"

I smile. I like playing superheroes. "Okay, Mommy!" Mommy smiles again and I'm glad I've made her happy. Mommy has a pretty smile.

* * *

**NOTES: So ****_Juliet's Shadow _****wrote this chapter really fast! I absolutely love it and I hope you guys do as well-she is awesome and an amazing writer! She actually developed Gloss and Creek better! What she wrote about Gloss is exactly his thoughts! And Juliet was able to boost his character up even better! With her help, we know even more that Gloss is such a bigger jerk! I think Creek is cute, and she was able to make him even cuter:) So I hope you guys enjoyed this bonus chapter and please leave a review, letting me know what you guys think of Juliet's interpretation of Gloss and Creek. She and I will both highly appreciate it and thank you so much!**

**_Juliet's Shadow: _****Thank you so much for writing this bonus chapter! It really means a lot! And I hope you had fun doing it; you did such a terrific job and I absolutely loved both sections!:) Thank you so much, again!**

_**MeaganOneDirection:**_** I hope you enjoyed this chapter written ****_Juliet._**** She has such amazing writing skills and she really brought these characters to life! Thank you so much for reading and let us know your thoughts:)**


	8. Chapter 8

**Chapter 8**

"Creek! Honey, get down for breakfast!" I shout as I set the plates down. The sunlight hits the room and brightens it up, brightening up my world and letting me know that it's a brand new day. _Thank God, for a brand new day._

"I'm coming, mom!" his voice is already so deep—I can't even remember the last time when it wasn't. _He's growing up so fast._

"Okay, I'm done; you don't have to yell," he says as he comes down and takes his seat harshly.

"Creek, I wasn't yelling at you," I tell him. His hair is dirty blond, like Gloss's was. His skin is the same too; everything of him resembles Gloss.

He takes a bite out of the sausage when he groans, "Ah!"

"What?" I get close to him.

"It's hot," he says, "Don't you know you know to cook right?"

Ever since he turned seventeen, he's acted this way. I remember when he was just seven-years-old—such a playful and happy kid. But now, he's the complete opposite.

"I'm sorry, sweetie," I take the plate off the table.

"What did I tell you?" he raises his voice, "Don't call me _sweetie_."

I apologize to him again but it isn't enough. He's already late to school—I know a mother shouldn't say this but I'm stunned that he's actually a senior in high school already. I can't believe he has made it that far. _I'm still a terrible mother for saying that._

"Listen, Creek," I put my hands on both of his broad shoulders. "You're about to graduate in a few months; you have to learn to be on time. Promise me that you'll try?"

That's when he freezes and slowly turns around to look at me viciously. His face looks exactly like Gloss's did when he was about to yell at me or hit me. It's like the two of them are clones.

"Why are you always all up on my ass?" he yells, "Don't you know how to mind your own business and fuck off people's shit? No wonder dad couldn't stand your sorry ass; man, I wish I lived with him. I can't believe you brought me with you. Dad could've seriously fucked someone way better than your ugly ass."

That's the last thing he says before he dashes off and I'm alone in the kitchen. A bunch of tears flow down from my eyes, but I don't care. I just don't care anymore and I drop hard on the ground, sliding my hand on the floor, seeking the object that's hidden under one of the kitchen's small furniture. It is indeed a small pistol. I've been having it all these years to protect us, but I guess we don't need protection anymore. I guess there's nothing left for me to do here; life just doesn't want me here anymore. Creek can't stand me and I haven't seen Finnick since that one night. I'm nobody's anymore. I'm just nobody and always will be. There's no use for me here, absolutely nothing.

I point the gun to the side of my head, feeling the edge of it. My index finger twitches but I manage to pull the trigger, and I'm instantly gone.

I twitch once again, the sound of the bullet wakes me up—I somehow felt it. I felt the instant pain in my whole body before I was officially over, before I was officially just a corpse. I heard it, I felt it, and I dreamed it.

It's pitch black as I look at the ceiling; it feels like I'm outside with no angel looking down at me. _Maybe that's why I just dreamed about that._ The feeling of my soft pajamas is somehow not smooth anymore, but has turned rough and I can't fall asleep again. The clock ticks at _3:57_. _My goodness; what's wrong with me? I'm possibly the most abnormal person ever living in this planet._

I sit up and rub my eyes—I can feel the redness of them, the irritation, infection that I'm probably getting from crying too much. I should really stop; for Creek, but I just can't. I can't stop thinking of things, and these things that I'm thinking about aren't something small or little. These things are actually important: Creek, Finnick, and Gloss. I guess I don't have to worry about Finnick that much. He probably was just messing with me or something. But Creek and Gloss are something different—what if Creek turns out to be like Gloss? What if when he's a teenager and starts growing up, he hates me all of the sudden? What if everything that happened in my dream actually happens in real life?

I step on something as I'm getting off the bed. It's something small and it feels soft. _For God's sake, it's Creek!_

"Ow," he groans and moves his little body, rubbing his arm, because that's the spot that I stepped on.

"Oh, I'm so sorry, sweetie!" I quickly get down and try to make his arm feel better. "Why are you on the floor? Did you fall?"

"I had a bad dream," he says and yawns.

_A bad dream. _I don't want to ask him what he dreamt about or what his nightmare dealt with. It's not fair to him, and it will only benefit me with the answer he'd give me. I don't want him to remember his bad dreams—he should focus on the bright and good things in life, not the dark and bad ones. He deserves the world.

"Well," I whisper, "Come on up. I'll protect you from the bad."

"But you can't," I can see his blue eyes through the dark. That's right… Lucky him, he didn't get my disgusting brown eyes. He got Gloss's blue ones—that's one thing that's not ugly about Gloss. His eyes. "You can't protect me from the bad, mommy. The bad will kill you."

The bad?

"What do you mean, sweetie?" I ask—I hope he's not talking what I think he's talking about.

"The bad is the reason why we came here," he says. I was right.

I start to think of the night when we finally escaped. Of course, I remember every single detail, due to the fact that we only escaped a few days ago. But my question is: _how did I manage to actually get out of there? How did I manage to bring Creek along with me without waking up Gloss?_ I guess he had a wild night, using my body as a toy for his own pleasurable actions and benefits. I guess that's why he didn't even move a leg when I was packing and everything. But like I said, I don't even have that many clothes, and I did leave some behind—I left a few things behind as well. But the one thing I didn't leave behind was my baby blanket. As a matter of fact, I was using it just now when I was sleeping.

"Still," I continue to speak quietly, "Just come on up. It's better for you to sleep on the bed with me."

He doesn't say anything else but gets on the bed and in an instant second, he passes out right on the edge of the bed. I gently pull him a little closer to the middle and I lie down next to him, wrapping my arms around his little body, feeling his warmth. Creek is my little boy, the only thing that's mine I have left. The only thing I love, besides the Almighty. I have to do whatever I can to protect him; I have to make his childhood great and happy. I can't let him live the life I did.

Before a few minutes flash by, I tranquilly fall asleep.

I drive to the nearest place to offer public phone use around the afternoon—almost evening the next day. I don't have a phone to use, and the motel doesn't offer one either. So people will look at me as I'm exposing my poverty to everyone. I don't care though.

I get off and put in a few quarters in the machine, looking back at Creek whose head is leaning against the window. He must be exhausted from last night; his nightmare must've shocked him. The phone's ringing, and it only rings three times before he picks up.

"Hello?" his voice speaks, but not in the same tone it was last night.

"Finnick? Is that you? It's me, A—Ann," I say; I almost said _Annie_.

"Ann?" his voice sounds delighted, "Is that really you?"

"Yeah," I'm smiling through the phone. I can tell that I look fatuous and ludicrous to the other people who are walking by me.

When Finnick told me to call him last night, he didn't give me his number by hand. Instead, when I got in the car, a small slip of paper was on the driver's seat. I got it, unfolded it, and it was his number. _He's expeditious._

"Listen," he says, "You want to meet up somewhere? You know; go out somewhere?"

_He actually wants to hang out with me. I was wrong. _I do want to hang out with him, but I want Creek to be with us too.

"You want to come over?" I ask him.

He doesn't refuse but quickly agrees and I give him the address to the motel. I'm kind of embarrassed to reveal him that we live in a motel, but I don't care. I just don't know how I'll be able to explain to him how we got here, and why we're here—why we're living in a motel.

We agree that he'll come over at seven o'clock. I drive back to the motel when it's four o'clock and I quickly shower, shave, change, and even do my makeup! I didn't have makeup at Gloss's but I bought a little bit on our way back to the motel. I never noticed how expensive it is, but I'm on a budget, so I got the cheapest I can find. Creek looks at me like I'm insane but that's because I am. I am nervous, anxious; I'm petrified. _What if this "date" or "hangout" doesn't end up well? What if I mess all this up?_

I bite my lip when I check that it's already six o'clock. _I only have an hour to add finishing touches._ I know I'm not being myself for this. I always thought that women don't need makeup to make them beautiful. You're beautiful for what you are. You're born how you are—you're meant to be for what you are. But for some reason, I don't feel like that right now. That's not my opinion right now. I barely met this guy and I'm already changing myself up for him. I don't even know him, but I feel like I do. Maybe this is why I ended up in this situation with Gloss. Maybe he's right about me. _"You're just a mother-fucking whore," _I can hear his words in my mind. _"You don't do anything right! God, why did I marry your sorry-ass self?"_

I need to stop thinking of him. Tonight's not about him. Tonight's about me, Creek, and Finnick. Hopefully we can all bond together and become something new. Creek did like him when we met him last night, but a second time doesn't always end up pretty. _Stop thinking like this_, I think. _Don't think like that. Don't think like that. Don't think like that._ I take another look through the mirror at my mascara, my small eye-shadow, my small earrings, my curled hair… This isn't Annie who I'm looking at. This is not Annie Cresta, the wife of Gloss and the mother of Creek. This is not the crazy, mad, and messed up girl. This is not the girl who ran away from her husband and took their child with her.

This is Ann, the single lady with a child named Hammil. The lady who instantly fell in love with Finnick Odair, but I don't want to necessarily say that; say those words. I don't want to fall in love with anyone at this moment… But maybe I just did, because when the time hits seven o'clock, and I open the door after it's knocked four times, I look into the sea-green eyes of the man of who may take my weak heart. The man who may just well, make it strong like him.

* * *

**NOTES: The dream at the beginning was intense! I had it in mind since two chapters ago:P In this chapter, we get more of Annie and Creek's bond. This chapter, at the beginning to middle, is meant to show how much she cares for Creek and is terrified that he might end up like Gloss. ****_Let's hope he doesn't. _****But in the next chapter, there will like a LOAD TON of Finnick:D I hope you guys liked this chapter and thank you for reading it:) Please leave a review:) Oh, and also, I'm overjoyed that you guys enjoyed the bonus chapter! ****_Juliet's Shadow _****did such a fantastic job with it! Credit all goes to her!**

_**MeaganOneDirection:**_** Juliet did do a fantastic job in the last chapter! And she will do another bonus further in the story from Finnick's perspective!:D I hope you enjoyed this chapter and thank you so much!**

_**Juliet's Shadow:**_** I've said this a trillion times, but thank you so much for the last chapter! You absolutely developed the characters even more! It's like you brought them to life and I can't wait to see you're interpretation of Finnick;) I hope you liked this chapter and can't wait to see your feedback!**

_**Raina4Ever: **_**You don't have to be sorry for reviewing a little late, we all have busy days XD I'm glad you enjoyed the last two chapter, especially the bonus one! I hope you enjoyed this one as well:D thank you so much:)**

**_Fighting The Inevitable: _****I'm really glad you enjoyed the last chapter! ****_Juliet's Shadow _****nailed it!:D And YESSS, we will see other characters from the book, and we will see Foxface again:)**

**_krikanalo: _****I'm glad you enjoyed it:) especially the bonus chapter:) Hope you liked this one too:D **


	9. Chapter 9

**Chapter 9**

My eyes are attracted by his magnetic black suit and white tie. He's like a magnet right now, because my eyes can't look away—I can't even move back a little. Last night, he was wearing plain and simple clothing, but today, it looks like he just got out of a wedding or the prom. He smiles, showing off his perfect teeth. Even his hair is fixed up and everything; he looks perfect.

"H-Hi," I stutter and feel annoyed.

"Hi Ann," he smiles even more and touches my cheek. His hand feels so soft and I just love it.

"Come in," I say and he steps in, sauntering straight towards Creek.

"What's up, little Hammil?" he plops down in front of Creek and takes out an action figure from one of the pockets in his pants; a different kind of Batman action figure than the one Creek already has.

"You got this?" Creek quickly snatches the Batman from Finnick and smiles.

"Yeah, little buddy," Finnick says, "I got it just for you."

"Wow," Creek smiles at the action figure. "Thanks, Super-Finnick!"

I can see the smile on Finnick's face.

"You're welcome, little man," Finnick pats one of Creek's small shoulders before he gets back up and walks towards me. I freeze.

"You have a gift," I say. I can't stop looking at his fancy wear.

"I did," he smirks, "I just gave it to Hammil."

"No," I playfully hit his arm, "I mean, you have a gift. You know how to brighten up Cr-Hammil's day. It takes me a while to get him happy."

"I don't see how," he says and offers me his hand. I take it and he pulls slowly to the bed where we both sit. "Your appearance just makes me happy. And Hammil is extremely lucky for being able to see your beautiful self all day, every day."

That's when I feel a chill go down my spine. I can feel the blood circling all over my body. It suddenly feels cold, and I feel like if I bleed, my blood won't be red, but its ordinary color; blue.

I open my mouth a little, ready to speak, but I just don't know how to put everything in words anymore. Everything is blank in my world, but Finnick. It's like Creek's not even in the room—I know it's terrible to think like this, but it's somehow true. I feel like seeing Finnick calms me down. It's like he brightens up my world, besides Creek. I didn't think anyone else was able to make me feel better, but Finnick proved me wrong.

I sigh.

"Finnick," I stand up and shake my head. I don't know why but I feel like crying; I feel like letting everything out. The problem is I don't know why I'm feeling like this. Maybe I want to cry out of happiness—I hope that's it. I don't know. I'm just afraid to love again; I'm afraid to be loved, because one day, it might just disappear.

"Look," I blink the tears away, "If this is one of your tricks to get me to sleep with you, don't even try, especially not in front of my son."

Finnick gives me a bizarre look and quickly gets up.

"Ann?" I turn around and I feel him get right behind me. "You know, that if that was the only thing I wanted, I wouldn't come to you."

I swallow a ration of my own spit hard before I turn around to look at his beautiful eyes again. _God, how can a man this handsome exist in this planet?_

"You sure?" I ask him.

"I'm as positive as a sugar cube," he says and I raise an eyebrow. "You've never had sugar cubes?"

I shake my head.

"I got some in my car, you want me to go get some?" he asks, anxiously.

I don't want to say _no_. He looks excited, which is cute, and I don't want to disappoint him.

"Sure," I smile and he doesn't say anything else but quickly runs out and comes back in with a bag filled with the white cubes. _There must be fifty in there._

"Here," he smiles as he takes one cube out of the bag and hands it over to me. I gently take it and wait for him to eat some before I do.

"Are these good?" I rotate the cube around with my thumb and index finger.

"I wouldn't have some if they weren't," says Finnick as he tosses two in his mouth. _Good Lord._

I take one more look at it before I put it in my mouth slowly. It's hard at first but my saliva manages to dissolve it pretty quick. Surprisingly, it is delicious but they're too sweet.

"Want another?" Finnick throws one more in his mouth.

"No thanks," I shake my head and smile at him before he puts the bag on the furniture. I wonder why he dressed up so nice just for me. Well, I can kind of understand as I dressed up a little for him. But he overdid it—not that it's a bad thing; I just don't know why Finnick would do it for me. _Does he really want to get my attention just as much as I want him to notice me?_

We talk for an hour about random things. We talk about the stuff that we're into, the stuff that we normally do, and things like that. Creek has spent the time playing with his action figures near the bathroom. So I guess he hasn't been listening to us; I don't mind if he did though. We're not speaking about anything serious… until now.

"… I try to talk to people, but many of them avoid me and when I do get to talk to them, they walk off," he says, meaning that when he tries to get to know other people, they don't cooperate.

"But you're something different," he goes on, "I'm glad you didn't ignore and aren't avoiding me."

_I'm glad as well._ But I have no idea how we ended up with this topic.

"Well, a lot of people are like that here," I feel bad for lying to him. I haven't met anyone from here, except for him. "They feel unsafe, like they can't trust who they talk to. I guess they just found themselves here out of nowhere, and they know this is their home now. But they still feel afraid and scared that something might happen, or that something might follow them from their past."

I probably shouldn't have said that, but it was my exact answer. His eyes widen a little and he freezes. He doesn't speak for a while.

"Finnick?" I look at him and that's when he looks at me again.

"Sorry," he smiles a little, "Just got… caught off guard, ha-ha."

I laugh with him but I can't help it and ask, "For example, were you born here?"

He shakes his head.

"So what made you come over here?" I ask.

"Well," he says, "I used to live in Chicago, but that city was too cold and too noisy. I wanted to live somewhere nice, calm, and quiet. And when I got here, this place was perfect."

I nod as he talks, because I do agree with him. This place is perfect and it is calmed, compared to California. And I'm not just saying that because of my home with Gloss and all, but because it's true. I don't think I've been this relaxed in years.

There's a small moment of silence as we both stare into each other's eyes. I get to see his sea-green eyes, his beautiful and gorgeous eyes. _God, why can't my eyes be as pretty as his? _I feel bad for him though, because he has to look into my hideous and repulsive eyes.

"Uh…" he starts to speak and fixes his tie a little. "I have to go."

"Oh," I say, looking down. I shouldn't do this but I just don't want him to leave. I know; I'm a self-centered brat—maybe Gloss's words do make sense. I just hope Finnick doesn't have the same opinion though.

"Hey, hey," Finnick says and touches my chin again, lifting my head up nicely, "I'll be back. Maybe tomorrow? We can even go out somewhere, the three of us."

I nod. "It sounds delighting."

He smiles as he touches my lips with his thumb; I somehow like it.

"Alright then," he gets up and walks toward the door. "I'll come by tomorrow, okay?"

"Okay," I agree and that's when Creek hurries on and runs toward Finnick, giving him a huge hug but his height only goes up to Finnick's stomach. Finnick bends down and pats Creek on the back as he says, "See you tomorrow, Hammil-Man."

I smile as I look at the moment—I wish I had a camera to snap a shot, so I can look at this repeatedly every day. But I only have my memories; my good and bad ones. If only I could just delete the bad ones.

"Well, goodnight guys," says Finnick before he steps out and shuts the door.

"Goodnight, Finnick," I mutter quietly after he closes the door. I did have a good time this evening—I didn't want it to stop, I didn't want him to leave, but I guess he had to. What am I thinking? He had to. However, another thought quickly storms into my mind… _What if he just left forever? What is he just exited out of my life for good?_ I close my eyes to keep myself from thinking anything else like that. I just can't afford to think those kinds of things. Maybe I'm just paranoid. I'm paranoid that if I get too attracted to Finnick, he'll leave me hanging. I just don't know. I just don't.

"What's wrong, mommy?" Creek asks as he still holds the action figure that Finnick gave him.

"Nothing, sweetheart," I touch the top of his head and feel his soft dirty blond hair. "Mommy's just thinking."

"Don't think too much," he says, "Your brain will explode."

I think he may be right. If I overthink stuff, my mind will go wild; it will go crazy even though it already is. My head might explode from all these thoughts. I just have to find a way to relax my brain and just… relax. I seriously need to quit thinking about Gloss—he probably doesn't even care that I'm gone. _Oh, what am I thinking? Of course he does! Get your head together! _I close my eyes again. _Stop overthinking. Stop overthinking. _

There is a possibility that Finnick can help me through this. Perhaps or maybe, he's the key to my happiness and love. Maybe he can help me get through this, and he doesn't even have to do anything much. All he has to do is be here with me, because when I'm with him, everything just feels right. It actually feels like I never even dated and married Gloss. It feels like I never had a bad childhood. It feels like I never even ran away from my old life. It just feels like another beginning, a new beginning. It's like we're actually meant to be like this, and hopefully we are. I just have to be positively sure that maybe, just maybe…

If Finnick can be the _one_, despite the fact that we just met, maybe he is the one and I may be the _one _for him.

* * *

**NOTES: If I'm updating late today, I'm so sorry. I've been swimming all day, and I just got home. So here's chapter 9... I really enjoyed writing this chapter because it's Finnick, Annie, and Creek! Or... in this case, Finnick, Ann, and Hammil... XD To get this clear, they are both falling for each other, which I think is cute. And Creek has no idea what's going on but we'll see if he finds out or not. Anyway, I hope you guys enjoyed this and please leave a review:) thanks:)**

_**Juliet's Shadow:**_** The first scene in the last chapter was intense! Ah... let's hope and pray that Creek does not end up like that. I hope you loved this Finnick and Annie chapter; there will be way more of these chapters!**

_**Catching Fireflies:**_** I do not mind at all about your language! XD You can speak however you want; I don't mind:) I'm really excited and glad that you like this! I hope you also love the Finnick and Annie chemistry; of course, the Creek and Annie chemistry and bond will get much stronger as well:) Thank you so much for reading this and I hope this is getting better for you:)**

_**Fighting The Inevitable: **_**I knew people would get all freaked out about the start of the last chapter XD it was so intense! Like, what the crap, Creek?! What is wrong with this kid? XD I hope you enjoyed this chapter and there will be more exciting ones to come! Oh, and to answer your question, this story is just from Annie's POV but there will be quite a few more bonus chapters later in the story; they will be in other people's POV. We're going to have a bonus chapter from Finnick's POV really, really soon;) :D I hope you'll like it! And thank you so much!**

_**MeaganOneDirection: **_**Oh no! Creek, why is you so mean to Annie?! What is wrong with you? XD That chapter was really intense, and I hope it was a reliever when it turned out to be a dream. Creek does have to be innocent and sweet as Annie; he can't end up like mean o'Gloss. And I'm glad you like how Annie feels stronger with Finnick:) She deserves someone like him! I hope you enjoyed this chapter, and hope you love the upcoming ones!:) Thank you so much.**

_**Raina4Ever:**_** Ah! What a sigh of relief when it turned out to be a dream (nightmare)! XD Yeah, Creek really does need to grow up to be like his mom... maybe even like good o'Finnick!:D And I agree that it's sad how Annie feels like she has to change for Finnick. But in this case, it won't be true for long, because Finnick LOVES Annie, no matter how she looks:) I hope I can make their relationship strong and good further in the story, and I hope you'll love the upcoming chapters!:) Thank you so much for reading!:) **


	10. Chapter 10

**Chapter 10**

"Mrs. Dolly, you belong over here," I moved Mrs. Dolly, my old doll, over to the corner of the wall. I had the doll for three years and it was the only doll I had. I actually found it myself when I was outside one day. I just saw a small object in the middle of the street, and I decided to go examine it to find her. _I don't even know what happened to her_.

"Good girl," I said and smiled, looking at the one-eyed doll. Its blond hair wasn't even blond anymore, like the day it was when I had found her. She was my only friend—the only thing that actually loved me and played with me. She felt like my only family.

I flinched when the door flew wide open; it almost hit me.

"You little shit," my father was surprisingly home—his eyes weren't even looking straight at me. His dark hair was a mess, and his clothes were ripped up and dirty. He was only wearing one dirty shoe and his belt wasn't even tied right. He held an empty glass beer bottle in his hand.

"What are you doing on the floor?" he raised his voice. "Get up and go play outside! Not in here!"

As I grabbed my doll, I guess he got impatient when I felt the bottle instantly touch my back painfully hard—I couldn't even describe the pain and still can't. All I can remember is me crying on the floor, trying to rub my back but couldn't as my arms were too short. I remember my father grabbing me by the arms and drag me outside until he threw me to the hard and hot ground. I didn't even have time to blink before he shut the door and locked it. I knew that because when I tried getting in, it wouldn't open.

People walked right by the house but they didn't even stop to help me or anything. They would just stare as they kept walking—I'm sure they didn't even care that was going on. I was sobbing but I wasn't screaming; I didn't want to cause any major commotion. So moments later, I sat there just eyeing everything until the door finally opened. But it wasn't for me; my dad had left once again and I don't even think he noticed that I was outside as he quickly passed right by me and kept walking weirdly away from the house. I took advantage of the fact that the door was opened and dashed right in. But it was bad idea to go back in, because it was only the key for me to get slapped hard by my own mother. She held a small cigarette butt with her other hand, using both her index and middle fingers for support. I only lied on the floor, rubbing my hot cheek as she sat down on the couch, ignoring my small sobs and groans.

I'm startled when I focus right on Creek, who's playing with another kid right here in the park. He wanted to come here for a while, and I actually like being at the park. However, I don't feel like playing or anything, so I just gave him permission to play with other kids his age. _God, Annie. Stop remembering things!_ I bury my face into my hands for a while, to keep myself calm and relaxed. But who am I kidding? I'm not relaxed right now, ignoring the actuality that we're at the park. I just need someone to talk to; however, I just have Creek and Finnick. Then again, I can't talk to Creek about these things.

I lean back on the bench, close my eyes, and let out a big breath. But that's when I hear a familiar voice.

"Annie?" her voice sounds exactly the same as it did back in college. _Is she really here? Is this really her?_ "Annie, is that you?"

I open my eyes and I'm right. _It's her._

"Jackie," I say in full shock. "Foxface?"

"Annie," her expression turns into a huge smile and that's when I quickly get up to pull her in for a huge hug. I can't believe she's seriously here; what brought her here? Is this all just some odd coincidence? I don't care. I just don't care; at least she's here.

"I can't believe you're here," I say as we sit down, "We haven't seen each other since college."

She smiles. "Yeah, look at you, you look great! I mean, you look the same but you still look great."

_The same. Does that mean I still look like the same Annie who wasn't worrying about guys, and was just focused on her future?_

"And you look like the same, smart and pretty self you were in college," I say, because she does.

She smiles even more and looks down. That's when I notice something on her finger. It's something that makes me jump and almost shout.

"Foxface," I look at her right in the eye, "Is that a… engagement ring?"

"Yes," she shows it off. It's the same one that me and her always wanted when we were to get engaged with someone. Of course, I didn't get something near as good as that.

"Who's the lucky man?" I ask.

She smiles again; this time, showing off her teeth. But when she says who the guy is, I want to yell at her. Not like that, but I want to tell her everything negative about the guy. I know the guy, as a matter of fact. Me and Gloss, when we were still in college, would double date with Foxface and her fiancée. At first, I thought both of them were the sweetest guys on Earth, especially Gloss. But now, I know that not only Gloss is the fake, but also Brutus. That's right: Brutus is going to marry Foxface.

"C-Congratulations," I try my hardest not to sound disappointed. But I know that I just did.

"Thanks," she says and takes a look at her ring. "He proposed two months ago; our wedding is a week away, and we decided to get married here."

"Why here?" I ask.

"Well, this place is not filled with a bunch of kids, and I've always wanted to come here. This place seems calm and nice."

_Everybody says this place is calm. They're right; it truly is._

"What's wrong?" she asks. I guess she noticed my worried and disappointed look.

"Nothing," I shake my head and exchange glances with a stranger. "It's nothing."

"Something's wrong," she says, "Tell me."

Everything is wrong—I married a hypocritical, selfish, abusive, fake phony who doesn't even respect me or love me. I married the worst guy I could ever think of. I got pregnant when I wasn't even planning on having a kid. _I don't regret having Creek though—I just wish I should've waited longer. _I ran away. I am in huge danger, because anything can happen. If I ever do go back, which I'm absolutely not, Gloss will kill me and only God knows what he'd do to Creek for coming along with me. And now this… Foxface is getting married to the best friend of Gloss. Brutus is almost like the exact same person as Gloss—they're both self-centered jerks who don't respect anyone and only use girls for sex. I wouldn't be surprised if Brutus has another girlfriend right now. I seriously wouldn't doubt the possibility of him cheating on Foxface. But I can't tell her this; she'll probably hate me forever if I do. But I'm just doing it because she is my best friend. She was pretty much the only friend I ever had. I don't want all of that just going down the drain—but she just deserves so much better than Brutus.

"I'm just really glad you're getting married," I lie to her—I can't believe I just lied to my best friend.

"Oh, well thanks," she smiles, "But wait, where's Gloss?"

_Oh, I left him, _I think to myself, _I was through with all of his crap and I decided to just leave him. I didn't feel like putting up with him anymore, and I was also thinking of our son. Our son is the main reason why I chose to run away with him. Our son deserves a much better life than the one we had with him. Gloss doesn't even deserve a son like Creek; he doesn't deserve anything._

I sigh.

"Is something wrong?" she asks.

I close my eyes and when I open them again, she looks worried.

"Annie?" she says.

"Look," I begin to say and I feel a little bit of regret. "Since you're my best friend, I'll tell you. I trust you, but please don't tell Brutus, okay?"

"Annie," she says, "I'm about to marry him. I can't keep secrets from him."

"And I can't keep secrets from you, since you are my best friend," I say and she takes a deep breath and nods.

"I left him," I say, "He would always yell at me, beat me, yell at Creek for no reason… He just wouldn't respect us, you know? I'm fed up with him and I just got my stuff and left in the middle of the night."

"How long have you been here?" she asks; full pity is all over her.

"I don't know, like three days… four." I respond.

She places her hand on my shoulder and pats it softly. _She does feel sorry for me._ I don't blame her though, but I don't want this to happen to her. I just don't think I'll be able to convince her not to marry Brutus. And I can't do that to her, knowing the risk of our friendship ending.

"I'm so sorry, Annie," she says, "Don't be sad. It's better now—he's out of your life, he doesn't know where you're at, and don't worry about your secret. I'll take it to the grave."

"Thanks, I knew I could trust you," I say before she pulls me in for another hug. That's when Creek runs straight towards us.

"Mommy! I won! I beat the other kids!" he's jumpy.

"I'm so proud of you," I say and rub the top of his head softly.

"Who are you?" he asks, looking at Foxface. "Are you the Joker's sister?"

"Creek," I respond to him, giving him "the look."

"What, mommy? She looks like the Joker," he says.

"That's no way to speak to someone," I say as nicely as I can, "Where are your manners?"

"I'm sorry," he says and turns back to Foxface. "So if you're not the Joker's sister, why is your hair red? It looks like ketchup."

"I'm sorry," I whisper to Foxface. She shakes her head and smiles, "Don't be."

"And of course I'm not the Joker's sister," she goes on telling Creek, "My hair is just naturally this way. It's like how your hair is naturally blond."

"Oh," Creek says and scratches the back of his head, "Well don't hurt mommy with your powers. I don't like it when people hurt my mommy. Me and Batman will get you if you hurt her."

"Don't worry," Foxface says in full laughter, "Me and your mommy are friends."

"I'm still watching you," he says before he dashes off and plays with the other little kids again. I don't think I've ever witnessed Creek being over-protective over me. It's kind of nice but at the same time, he doesn't have to do that. I'm supposed to protect him, and I am. I just don't want people to think he has bad manners, because he doesn't. My little Creek is the sweetest, most charming little boy I've ever laid my eyes on; after all, he is my only son. I love him for dear life!

"I still remember when he was just a newborn," says Foxface.

"You saw him? I ask, because after I got pregnant, Foxface and I never hung out or talked that much again. And after I married Gloss and had Creek, we drifted apart—I thought she had already moved away or something. I guess she saw a picture of him on the Internet.

"One of Gloss's friends showed me," she says. _I thought Gloss said he didn't want anyone else seeing our baby._

We continue to talk for another hour before Brutus calls her phone and she quickly rushes off. We didn't really talk about anything big, except for what we've been doing, how we've been, and our relationships. Of course, I explained everything about Gloss to her—she was shocked and stunned by the way he had "changed." But the truth is, he never even changed. He's been the same demon ever since college, and probably even since high school or middle school. Most people never change, and the question is… Have I changed?

We drive back to the motel around eight o'clock: I'm ready to drop everything and just lie down on my bed, ready to go to sleep. But one thing holds me back when we step in front of the door and I see a small sticky note attached to it. I guess it was barely placed because it would've flown off many minutes or hours ago. My tired and exhausted face turns into a huge smile when I read the note:

**_Annie, the most beautiful girl in this world. Please, if you have time tomorrow, can you join me and a couple of friends for dinner? If you want to join, just call me tomorrow and I'll pick you up._**

**_P.S. Don't even bother fixing yourself up… doing that doesn't make a difference for your beauty. You're lovely no matter how you look. Stay that way, Beautiful._**

**_- Finnick _**

* * *

**NOTES: Well this chapter's pretty slow and stuff. But I just wanted to bring Foxface back into the picture for a little bit. She will be back for another chapter though, or two. I'm not sure yet but I absolutely loved writing the scene at the beginning. I wanted to flashback a little: her father came home drunk, threw an empty bottle of beer at her, and kicked her outside with burning hot temperatures. He left shortly afterwards but when Annie went back inside, her mother slapped her and continued to smoke her cigarette. Ugh, stupid abusive parents. Well, the rest is pretty much Annie and Foxface seeing each other for the first time since college, and Foxface is engaged to Brutus! Grrrr... Come on Foxface! Open your eyes! Haha, I'm the author and I'm all reacting to this XD Well I hope you guys enjoyed this pretty slow chapter and thanks for reading:) Please review:) And also, in the next scene, we will see other characters from the book:D**

_**Raina4Ever:**_** I try to make Creek the cutest kid:) "Your brain will explode." XD Oh Creek, gotta love him:) And I'm glad I introduced you to a word you've never heard before! I love it when I do that:) And Finnick and Annie will get pretty serious before Gloss starts searching, just letting you know. Thank you so much for reading! I hope you enjoyed this slow chapter:)**

_**Catching Fireflies: **_**Yeah! Gloss will search for them soon *scary intense music* I just need to make Finnick and Annie's relationship more serious before he does. And we find out that Finnick doesn't care how Annie looks at the end:) I hope you enjoyed this pretty slow chapter:)**

_**Juliet's Shadow:**_** Super-Finnick... We all know who that came from;) Finnick and his sugar cubes... Annie is missing out! Let's just hope they have sugar cubes in the next chapter;) I hope you enjoyed this chapter and got you entertained while you're on a long drive:) Thanks:)**

_**Dracolover:**_** Heck yeah! Finnick and his sugar cubes are like Creek and his action figures. Ah... what about Annie? Maybe Finnick and his sugar cubes are like Annie and her Finnick;)... I hope you enjoyed this chapter and thank you!:)**

_**ClatoandFannie:**_** Yay! You're the first person to have a theory about Finnick! I love it when people come up with these kinds of theories:) And let's see if your theory is true later in the story:D And I'm really glad and pleasured that you think I'm one of the best writers on this site - there is a lot of very good and amazing ones out there as well! But it makes me feel good about myself. Thank you so much for that and thank you too for your theory! I hope you enjoyed this chapter:)**

_**Michelle (Guest):**_** Thank you! I'm glad you like this story:) I loved seeing how people reacted to the dream; they're all freaked out at first but then relieved at the end XD I hope you enjoyed this chapter and about ****_Candles_****, I'm halfway done with my chapter, so it'll be updated in no time! My chapter's pretty short though... But I'm excited that you're reading that story as well! I hope you'll like it:)**

_**glimmergirlhg1:**_** Aw, thank you!:) I'm glad you like this! I hope you enjoyed this chapter as well, despite the fact that it's pretty slow... But thank you so much!:)**


	11. Chapter 11

**Chapter 11**

I take another look at the note—staring at the way Finnick writes. I guess he came by to see me and tell me in person, but obviously we weren't home. It doesn't matter though; at least Creek had some fun and I got to see Foxface.

"What is that mommy?" asks Creek.

"It's just a note from Finnick. He dropped it off last night." I say.

He nods and quickly goes and gets the action figure that Finnick gave him. I can tell that he really loves that toy—it's like he hardly ever takes his hands off it. There is not one day where I don't see him holding the figure, and that somehow reminds me of the sugar cubes. _They're still here; right there on the furniture._

I gather some underwear, jeans, and a simple shirt; all ready for the shower. I just need some time to think. When I take a shower, I do my best at thinking—but pretty much, everyone I've ever heard from, they've all said that they do their heavy thinking during a shower. I just need to think about Foxface, about how her future might end up if she does marry Brutus.

I step into the small tub—the material that it's made out of makes it slippery when water hits it. I turn the handle to the cold section and the water's freezing, but I don't care. I just let the water hit my body, hitting the top of my head and making my hair stick to my skin. I haven't showered in days, and it feels so good to finally freshen up after a few long days. I take the shampoo and scrub my hair; I can feel the slight coldness of the substance and it feels pleasuring. Rubbing body wash all over my body, I start to think of Gloss once again. I remember our wedding night… almost every single detail.

He carried me to our hotel room, smiling, giving me lots of kisses everywhere on my face. I kissed him back and as he opened the door, the room was completely beautiful. The bed was heart-shaped, the furniture was fancy and had the color of mahogany surrounding all over it. There was a large golden carpet under the bed and the walls had different kinds of beautiful designs all over them. Everything was just perfect and I realized the wine that was placed on a small table near the bed with two glass cups. I bit my lip.

"This is amazing," I told Gloss as he put me down nicely and shut the door. "Honey, you really didn't have to do this—wasn't this expensive?"

"That doesn't matter," he said, getting right behind me and placing his hands on my arms, squeezing them firmly. "What matters is that nothing can be more perfect than being here with you."

I smiled and closed my eyes as I felt his lips on my neck, making their way to my shoulders, slowly removing part of my dress.

"Uh," I whispered, "I'm kind of tired."

"What?" he whispered as he stopped.

"It's been a long day, and I'm exhausted. Remember," I touched my belly; it had a small bump back then. "I'm pregnant. I get tired easily."

"Well," he slowly continued touching my arms and made his way to my hips, "This'll help you feel better and fall asleep."

He kissed my neck again, moving all around it and continued to remove my dress. I couldn't resist it, so I decided to turn around and follow his steps. I let him kiss my neck a few more times before I began removing his black suit, revealing the white collared-shit with buttons. My wedding dress wasn't the best, but then again, we were on a tight budget for the event. We didn't want anything too big; we just wanted something small and simple. Those are one of the things where we both agreed on to.

He made his way towards my lips and I kissed his, feeling the smooth and softness of them. He managed to get my wedding dress off and I managed to remove his clothing before we were both on the bed, lying next to each other with his arm around me a few minutes later. I placed my head on his hard chest and I did agree that it did help me to do what he wanted. But something wasn't right.

"That was great," he smiled and he looked at me with his blue eyes. "I won't forget this night."

"I won't forget it either," I said; however, I said something that I really shouldn't have said afterwards. "I just wish we had waited for this night."

He didn't say anything for a few moments.

"I just wish we didn't do anything that night; I wish we had saved that for tonight, for just now, you know?" I added.

He took his arm off me and sat down at the edge of the bed as he sighed.

"What's wrong?" I nicely asked.

He shook his head.

"God dammit, Annie!" he quickly stood up, "Why do you have to say that?"

"What?" I commented, "I'm… I'm-I'm just saying."

"Well stop!" he yelled and it startled me. "Don't you know how much I regret doing that?"

"Wait," I stood up as well, "Are you saying that when our baby gets here, you're going to regret that?"

"Stop saying _our baby_!" he yelled harder, "If anything, fuck that baby!"

I touched my belly.

"Gloss," I said, "This is your baby who you're talking about."

"Damn," he whispered and looked up at the ceiling as he shook his head. "He's not just my baby; he's your baby!"

"I didn't say that; I-I-I I'm sorry; I was just saying that this night would've been better if we waited," I responded.

"I don't give a fuck," he said, "We had sex; I liked it. And we just had sex just now; I liked it. And now, you're fucking everything up. Why don't you just shut the fuck up? I didn't marry you for this."

I knew that I should've just shut my mouth completely, but I was stupid and decided to keep going on.

"Wait a minute," I interrupted him, "Then what exactly did you marry me for?"

He didn't answer but quickly lied back down on the bed, covering up his naked body.

"I'm sorry, Honey," I walked back over to the bed and got close to him. "I know that I shouldn't talk back to you. I know you're right; I don't know what I'm saying. I-I'm j-just sorry. I love you."

He looked at me and harshly pressed his lips against mine.

"If you love me, you'll shut up and go to bed," he said before I released a tear and listened to him. I listened to him, making the biggest mistake of my life. I didn't know that he was wrong the whole time—I was just blinded and too confused to think of anything. I couldn't do anything with him around; I thought that marrying him was going to solve everything. I thought marrying him was going to make everything better, but obviously, I was wrong. I start to wonder what my life would be life if I didn't meet him at all… _Would I have met Finnick?_

I guess some things happen—whether they are good or bad—they have to happen if something beautiful has to happen. In my case, I had to have met Gloss if I ever wanted Finnick in my life. That's one thing I don't regret right now.

I walk out of the bathroom with a towel wrapped around as Creek looks at me and covers his eyes quickly.

"Ew, mommy," he says, his eyes are covered by his small hands.

"Don't worry, sweetie," I laugh a little and quickly change in the closet. _I don't know why I just didn't change in the bathroom._

I have decided to go along with Finnick to dinner; after all, I do want to get to know some people. Those people that are going to dinner with us might just be his friends, and maybe I can befriend them as well. I just hope I don't ruin any chances or possibilities._ But what if those people don't like me? What if they look at me and pure hate hits them?_

I bite my lip as I finish changing and get out of the closet. Creek is still playing with his action figures, like always. I start to wonder if he even wants to go out to dinner. But who am I kidding? He loves food and will go anywhere just for food. That's one of the things I love about him—he's like my little piggy and I like that.

"Hey Creek," I approach him and plop down. "Listen, Finnick has invited us to dinner. There are going to be quite a few people there, do you want to go?"

He quickly smiles before he replies with a "yes."

_I knew it._

We quickly drive up to the city's public phone use place and I quickly call Finnick. We make the plan to get to dinner at six o'clock; _it's twelve o'clock now._ We're going to the _Olive Garden_ and as a matter of fact, I've never been there. I haven't even tried it once, not even from someone's leftovers. Gloss never took us out for dinner but only once when we first got married; however, the restaurant wasn't fancy all. I'm not complaining though; I guess I have no right to.

We drive back home, Creek takes a quick messy bath, I clean it up, dress him, and before I know it, it's already _5:30_.

"Goodness gracious," I mutter when I look at the time. "We have to hurry up."

I read Finnick's note one last time, debating whether to wear make-up on or not. Unfortunately, I decide not to. He said I looked beautiful without it; I strongly disagree. Maybe he's lying to me and just feels sorry. He probably feels sorry that I'm the ugliest living thing in this whole planet. _I have to wear make-up_, I think, _I have to. I have to. I have to._

"Let's go," I tell Creek to keep myself from disobeying Finnick. But if I did wear it, it wouldn't be disobeying him, right?

We arrive at the _Olive Garden_ in a matter of minutes and to my surprise, it's not filled with a bunch of cars or people. Foxface used to tell me in college that our local _Olive Garden _was the worst. And she wasn't even talking about the food. The service was bad, it would take up to two hours for the employees to sit you down; your food wouldn't be ready until an hour… _it was bad_, or so she said. But maybe it was like that because we were in California and it was always packed. I don't know.

I pull over and when I'm about to get out of the car, the door opens and I startle. The man who opened it wears, what I can see, a nice tuxedo. Finnick. He reaches his hand out and I love the feeling of it when I touch it as he nicely helps me out of the car. He also gets Creek out as well and lifts him up in the air, yelling, "Superman's here!"

I can't help it but laugh, not because it's just funny, but because it's kind of cute… He looks into my eyes after he puts Creek down and that's when I shiver.

"Good afternoon, Ann," he smiles and holds out his hand again.

"Good afternoon to you too, Finnick," I grab his hand and also Creek's. We slowly walk inside afterwards and I feel a chill going down my spine. _I'm actually holding hands with him._ People will probably think he's my husband or something. They'll probably think that Creek is our son when really; they do not even want to meet the real father. I swallow my own spit hard when we quickly get seated and I see the people that Finnick was talking about. One girl has her hair in a fancy braid and wears a black dress. Another girl wears a golden dress and her hair is kind of like mine but short. And there are also two more guys in front of them: one of them has blond hair and wears a white tuxedo while the other guy shares the same dark hair that the girl with the braid has. He wears a dark brown tuxedo and looks like the oldest out of Finnick and the others. _He probably is. _

"Guys, I'd like you to meet Ann and her son, Hammil," Finnick says as he sits me down next to the girl with the braid.

"Ann," he tells me and points to the girl with the braid. "This is Katniss Everdeen."

"Hi," I smile and she shakes my hand, greeting me as well.

"That's Johanna Mason over there, but you can call her Jo," he points at her and she doesn't even bother shaking my hand. Her arms are folded across her chest and instead of saying anything to me, she rolls her eyes and turns the other way.

"Okay then…" Finnick responds and points to the blond-headed guy. "That's Peeta Mellark."

He smiles at me and I smile back as Finnick introduces me to the guy who looks the oldest. His name is Gale Hawthorne and he actually is older than us by a year. He's also handsome, as well as Peeta. However, something about Finnick just makes him the most handsome man on this table, in fact, this whole restaurant or city—even this whole country! _I'm exaggerating but that's how I feel._

We order our meal and shockingly, it arrives fast. It didn't take an hour or two, but a few thirty minutes. I don't care; at least I'm with Finnick.

"So Ann," Gale suddenly speaks to me, "Where you from?"

My heart begins pounding, my body is filled with goose bumps, it's somehow harder to breathe all of the sudden. The answer is simple, but it's not easy answering it. _Oh, I'm from San Bernardino, California. I was born and raised there; however, when I was seven-years-old, I was sent to my aunt and uncle's house because my father killed my mother, and he was sent away to prison. Unplanned, I got pregnant when I was in college by the guy who I regret marrying: Gloss. He beat me, yelled at me, used me, and didn't respect me, so I decided to run away from him with our son. And now, we're here. We're here in Springfield, Illinois where I might just be falling for Finnick Odair._

"Uh…" I wipe around my mouth with a napkin to help myself think better, but it's not working. "I-I'm from California."

"Really?" Katniss says, "I'm from there too. Me and Finnick have known each other since grade school."

"Oh, how nice," I smile and take another look at Finnick. _God, why does he have to look so attractive?! Look at me. I look disgusting; he probably lost all his taste in me._

"Where in California are you from?" Peeta adds.

I breathe hard for a while before I take in a deep breath and say, "Pasadena."

I exchange glances with Creek as he shakes my arm and whispers into my ear, "Mom, I thought we were from San Ber-ber-dar…"

"No, Hammil," I smile and look at the group. "We're from Pasadena."

_Thank God he can't pronounce San Bernardino._

"What made you move over here?" I hear someone else and it's Johanna. She doesn't look like she's enjoying the dinner. Her arms are still folded across her chest and she glares at me.

"I-I just always wanted to come here," I try my hardest not to stutter, but I can't help it.

"Why?" she asks.

"I just thought this-this place was p-perfect for Cr-Hammil." I say.

_My goodness! Why do you have to stutter so much?! Maybe everyone's right about you… you can't do anything right and you always screw everything up!_

"Where's your husband?" she goes on and I don't feel like answering her anymore. But I have to be polite.

"He-he left me," I hate lying so much. "After the divorce, he decided to move away."

"Oh," she slowly nods, "And you're quickly looking for other guys now…"

"Johanna," Finnick softly says as he clears his throat. "Stop." he doesn't say it but I can see him mouthing that word to her. _What's her problem anyway? Am I really that dislikable to people? I barely meet them and they quickly dislike me? _

"Ann," Finnick touches my hand. I melt. "Can I talk to you for a minute?"

I nod and he leads me towards the restrooms. I've never seen a restaurant where even the restrooms look fancy.

"Listen," he quietly begins, "I'm sorry about Johanna. I don't know what her problem is but just ignore her, okay?"

I nod again.

"I'm really sorry; she's like that sometimes. Don't take it personal," he adds.

"Why is she like that anyway?" I ask.

He licks his lips and looks down at the floor. The carpet has different types of beautiful designs. It reminds me of the room that Gloss and I stayed at during our wedding night.

"I…" he begins to say, "I… I don't know. I guess it's something she always does to people. But I'm just really sorry by how she's acting. So please, don't take it personal, okay?"

_He's stuttering._

"Okay." I say before he encloses me in his arms and takes my hand, pulling me to the table again. I take a look at Johanna one more time and this time, she shakes her head, rolls her eyes, and looks away to continue eating her meal. _There has to be something for her to do that. _But like Finnick said, I'm not going to worry about it.

We eat our meal silently for a while until we almost leave. That's when I slightly wish that I wouldn't have come along.

"So Finnick," Johanna takes a sip out of her drink. "Tell us how much you're enjoying your life here."

"I love it, but you guys already know," he says, "Even Ann knows that and we just met."

I smile a little but notice that Johanna keeps eyeing me weirdly.

"Really? Well, do you like it better now, or was it better back then?" she goes on.

_Back then?_ I try to follow Johanna's lines, but she's puzzling me. I have absolutely no idea what she means—doesn't she already know? She is one of Finnick's friends; she should know.

"I like it better now," he responds. "I like it a lot—a fresh new start is better."

He looks at me and I grin a little before I take a look at Creek. He looks exhausted, so I decide to check the time. _9:23_. The latest we've gone to bed lately has got to be ten o'clock. I absolutely can't stay up later than that; with Gloss, since he would hardly ever let me sleep, I sometimes wouldn't go to bed until one to two o'clock. That's also one of the reasons why I was always so tired.

"You know what?" I snap out of my instant imagination as Johanna snaps and turns to look at Finnick. "I can't even eat—I can't stand the sight of you. Here," she takes out a couple of dollar bills, "Here's my pitch-in; I'll be at the hotel."

Everybody looks at Johanna puzzled. Something has to be wrong with me for her to act like this. It has to be me. I mean, I'm willing to bet everything I have that she already dislikes me. I bet as soon as I sat down, she already hated me. I don't want to say _hate_ but it can be correct.

"Great," Gale digs into his wallet and also takes out a few dollar bills. "What a way to ruin the night. Sorry about that, guys. I don't know what's bothering her and Ann," he looks at me, "It was really nice to meet you. I hope you'll get together with us some other time. I'll see the rest of you at the hotel."

Johanna's gone. Gale's gone. Now, it's me, Creek, Finnick, Katniss, and Peeta. What's next? Finnick? Peeta and Katniss? Creek and I? I wouldn't doubt on any of my questions. Gale's right; I guess the night has been ruined, but I don't blame Johanna. I blame myself.

"Sorry about that," Finnick sighs, "I'm telling you, I don't know what's wrong with her."

"She's been acting that way since like two days ago," says Katniss, taking another bite out of her lasagna.

"It's getting to the point where we can't even talk to her, because of that," says Peeta.

"Is it okay if I leave you guys here?" Finnick asks Peeta and Katniss, "I want to take Ann home—I'll be back afterwards and if I don't, I'll be at the hotel."

"Yeah," Katniss says, "It's fine."

I bite my lip and take a look at Creek. I feel so guilty for everything I'm doing. We move to a new city, and people already hate me. It's only been a couple of days, and I'm already ruining people's days and nights, probably even their lives. I just hope I didn't ruin Finnick's night; I really hope I didn't. If I did, will he even forgive me? _I can't stop thinking like this. I can't stop thinking negative about myself._

"You don't have to do that, Finnick," I say, "I drove over here."

"Can I drive behind you until you get to the motel?" he asks.

It would be nice of him to do so. He actually wants to take me home, but he really doesn't have to. I don't want him to waste gas on me. He'd really just be wasting his time following me to the motel. Even though it isn't even far, it's still something. _Why does he even want to follow me home?_ _Is he trying to protect me? _

"Okay," I nod and grab Creek. He says _bye_ to Katniss and Peeta before I do. I also apologize for ruining their nights but they object and disagree, saying that it was all Johanna. But it wasn't her fault! It was all mine.

Finnick follows me to the motel quickly that I forget he was behind us the whole time. The motel is only a couple of blocks away from the restaurant, so I'm thankful that it isn't far. I feel like I'm already sucking time out of Finnick's life.

Creek quickly goes inside, leaving Finnick and me alone outside, standing in front of the door. His sea-green eyes look so much better at night when the moonlight hits them. I can see the light reflecting his hair, making it look duller. He looks so much better under the moonlight, but he's still the most handsome man I've ever laid eyes on.

"I know I've already said this, but I'm truly sorry for what happened," he says, his hands are shoved inside his pickets.

"Don't be sorry," I say, "It was all my fault. I guess Johanna doesn't like me and she has every right not to. Sorry, if you want, I won't hang out with you guys again."

He shakes his head and quickly places both of his hands on my cheek. A chill suddenly goes down my spine afterwards and I can feel my blood circling.

"It wasn't your fault," he says, his forehead is almost touching mine. "Don't blame yourself. And please don't feel insecure about yourself. You know that you're the only girl that I can actually drop everything for, right?"

"But you just met me," I look down, "There's no possible way that you can feel that way about me."

"Yeah there is," he responds, "It is possible, because I really do feel this way."

I don't say anything afterwards—I don't know what to say because I don't really disagree with him. I actually feel the exact same way as him. However, I'm just too afraid to admit it, I think.

"Ann," he suddenly says after a few short moments of silence. "I… I love you."

_He can't be serious._ He seriously cannot be serious about that. He doesn't love me, he doesn't love me. He's just saying he is, because… _Why is he doing this to me? Why?_

I look up at him and I feel like my forehead is starting to sweat; it is.

"Stop," I shake my head and back away from him a little. "You don't love me. Don't lie to me, Finnick. If there's one thing I hate from people, it's when they lie to me. Just please stop."

He gets closer to me again and I feel his warmth.

"I'm not lying to you," he presses his forehead against mine, our noses also touch. "I know what it's like to be lied at. I know how you feel, and I promise you, I can promise you that I'm not lying to you. If there's one thing that I wouldn't do, it's lie to you."

Our eyes connect once again when I move them up to meet his. Our lips are just centimeters apart, probably millimeters apart! His hands are on my cheek; my hands are suddenly behind his neck—they make their way up to the back of his head. I'm finally feeling his smooth, soft, and heavenly hair. _God, please don't make this moment stop._

He smiles as I grin a little but before anything else can happen, that's when he lets out a sigh and tells me why Johanna was really acting the way she was. At first, I don't understand but then I get it. She's jealous of me—it's not that she doesn't like me but she's envious towards me. She didn't enjoy having dinner while I was there with Finnick. _So it was true—I ruined the night by my presence._ When I met him a few nights ago, Finnick said that he has only had one girlfriend in his whole lifetime…

That one girl was Johanna.

* * *

**NOTES: Hi earthlings!:) I haven't updated in a while, since like... I don't even remember! XD That's how you know that you haven't updated in a while. XD Anyway, this is the LONGEST chapter I've written by far. I also had a little bit of trouble with it, because I've been having writer's block with everything I'm working on right now. It sucks so bad having writer's block; grrrr, absolutely HATE it. So believe it or not, this chapter would've been longer! It was already getting too long through half of it when I decided to shorten it. So if it's crappy (which I know it is, so please if you review, ignore that:P) please don't judge me. Oh and if you're reading this note, DON'T LOOK AWAY! I'M WRITING IT IN CAPS SO YOU'LL NOTICE. IN THE LAST CHAPTER, AT THE VERY END, FINNICK LEFT A NOTE AND SINCE I WAS RUSHING TOWARDS THE END TO FINISH THE CHAPTER AND DIDN'T BOTHER REVIEWING IT AFTER I WAS DONE, I NOTICED THAT HE SAID ANNIE'S NAME. Please ignore that; it was a small error. In case you guys are questioning which part exactly, the note said, "****_Annie, the most beautiful girl in this world. Please, if you have time tomorrow, can you join me and a couple of friends for dinner? If you want to join, just call me tomorrow and I'll pick you up..._****" And so on. You notice how it says "Annie" at the beginning, ignore that and pretend it said "Ann." I didn't notice that mistake until after I posted the chapter and my friend reviewed it. So yeah... some of you may have not noticed but I'm just letting you know... :O So back to the chapter, I decided to make have Johanna be Finnick's ex-girlfriend. I thought it'd be interesting since they're close in the real books, and we get a jealous side of Johanna. I really liked writing that part and I hope you guys did too -this whole chapter as a matter of fact. Thank you so much for reading and please review:) (Again, please ignore the crappy and rushed writing; I was just trying not to make this chapter too long) But if you guys like long chapters, let me know:)**

_**Juliet's Shadow:**_** I had so much fun hanging out with you and Candice on Monday! It was really funny and fun! (How Candice smacked you at the mall XD She's vicious sometimes!) Anyway, I hope you enjoyed this chapter and I hope you liked the bonus chapter I wrote for ****_Graceland_****! Thank you so much! (And also, thanks for noticing the "Annie" thing!)**

_**Catching Fireflies:**_** I'm glad you like Finnick:) I agree, Foxface needs to realize that she can do so much better than Brutus. I hope you liked this chapter and the intense flashback... I feel like this story is going to have plenty of flashbacks, because I want to show you guys how bad Annie's life was... So I hope you don't mind and thank you so much!:)**

_**Seraband:**_** Yeah! Finnick:) And it was a small error... My friend and I noticed right after I posted it and yeah... Pretend that note said "Ann" instead of "Annie." But I'm glad you realized it as well!:) Thank you for reviewing:)**

_**MeaganOneDirection:**_** Yay!:) believe me, I know how it feels to be super busy and not being able to write or read a story. It's all good:) I hope you enjoyed this chapter as well! I love how you think Creek is cute and I LOVE it when Finnick and him are together:) I enjoy writing those parts:) And Foxface is actually going to show up in the next chapter!:D So thank you so much for reviewing and hope you loved this chapter!:)**

_**Raina4Ever:**_** Oh it's all good!:D I freaking ABSOLUTELY LOVE looooong reviews! With long reviews, it lets me know more of what you think and I love reading them! So don't be afraid to have them long! And about Creek; he deserves to be mentioned in every review; he is cute;);) haha, a lot of people love him. I actually try to make him cuter and cuter in each chapter, so I hope I'm succeeding...:) And the note thing was error; it was supposed to say "Ann." I just realized it after I posted the chapter, so yeah. I'm glad you noticed that! And I hope you enjoyed this chapter as well! Hope the whole Johanna being Finnick's ex was a decent surprise:)**

_**NeonfoxXtrot:**_** I completely agree; Annie does have a horrible past:( and I do those flashbacks to show you guys how much darker it was... Like even on her wedding night, things went wrong! Ugh, gotta dislike Gloss. And I'm really, really glad it's more like a diary to you! I try to make it as realistic as possible, so I hope it gets better for you:) Thank you so much for reviewing and hope you enjoyed the chapter:)**

_**Fighting The Inevitable:**_** Yay!:) Super glad you loved the chapter:) we're going to get more more Foxface in the next chapter, so let's see what happens:D Thank you so much and I hope you enjoyed this chapter as well!**

_**glimmergirlhg1:**_** Aw, I'm glad you liked the chapter:) I try really hard to make Creek cute and I'm actually not failing!:) Thank you so much for reviewing and I hope you liked this chapter!:)**

_**Michelle (Guest):**_** I'm really glad you understand what I'm saying:) This story is going to get much and much more dark when Gloss comes back into it. It's going to be really intense... maybe too intense that you'll stop reading to catch up your breath!;) anyway, sorry I took a while to update this chapter and I'm pleasured that you like it!:) Hope you loved this chapter and thank you so much for reviewing:) (Oh and yay! You said I'm awesome! Thank you for thinking that:) You're an awesome fan and reviewer!(:) **


	12. Chapter 12

**Chapter 12**

I scowl as I stare into my eyes through the mirror. I really wish I had the same eyes as Creek or even Finnick. Sometimes, I even wish I had the same blue eyes that Gloss has… _That's how you know that I absolutely hate my brown ones._

"Why do you look at yourself in the mirror a lot?" I can see Creek behind me a few feet away. I smile a little before he adds, "What if inside the mirror is a monster?"

"It's just my reflection, sweetie," I grin a little more. "I look at myself to see if I'm any prettier each day, but unfortunately, I'm not."

"But you're not pretty, mommy," he says but I do believe him, and it doesn't pain me one bit. "You're the prettiest mommy in the whole world."

It's his opinion, but I do feel my heart beating faster and faster by the second. Creek hasn't said anything like that before; he has said that he loves me many times, and other stuff but what he just said just makes me feel better. It actually makes me feel beautiful. _I still disagree that I'm the prettiest mommy. _

"Thank you," I smile and grab my bag, digging through it to try to get my toothbrush. I begin to think about two nights ago when we had dinner with Finnick and his friends. It felt a bit uncomfortable sitting right by Johanna and I'm not sure how I'll be able to get together with them again. Johanna, most likely, will be with us and she'll glare at me repeatedly—probably nonstop. My question is: why didn't Finnick tell me from the start that one of his friends was his ex-girlfriend? Why didn't he tell me when he pulled me away from the group? Is he embarrassed?

He also, for the first time, told me that he loves me. _He can't possibly love me._ I mean, I guess I feel the same way, but not like that. At least not for right now. I just know for a fact that he's not a stranger to me—I've met him before, not physically, not emotionally, but mentally and possibly spiritually. I've met him before and I feel like I've known him for my entire life! I feel like I know him better than I know Gloss. I know enough about Gloss though: that fake jerk. All he knows is how to use a girl, and play her. He doesn't respect one single one; whereas Finnick, actually knows how to treat a girl. He treated me with more respect than Gloss ever did, and he didn't even know me. He just saw me at the gas station and decided to be polite and greet himself in a nice, romantic way. The real difference between Finnick and Gloss is Finnick doesn't abuse a girl. He doesn't abuse her emotionally, verbally, or physically. Finnick sees women as a gift, a gift that can't be replaced and a gift he shouldn't use or take advantage of. He knows how to treat a woman. Gloss sees women as an object; he sees them as something that he should just use for his own benefit. He doesn't care what they feel, what they think; all he cares about is how they can pleasure him. Finnick is a gentleman. Gloss is a complete hypocritical, selfish, using coward.

_I really regret doing everything I did with him._

A knock is suddenly heard from the door and I turn to look at Creek. _We weren't expecting anyone at this time._ I slowly get up and when I open the door, I'm relieved when I see that it's Foxface.

"Annie," she smiles and hugs me. "Hi Creek," she waves at him as she comes in.

"Hi red-face," he waves back at her while Foxface just smiles.

"Creek," I say, "It's Foxface, not red-face."

"Oh," he smacks his forehead and continues to play with his action figures.

I wonder why Foxface has stopped by; then again, how does she know where we live exactly? How did she get our address?

"Sorry I stopped by unexpectedly," she says, taking a seat on the bed. "I just thought it was best if I stopped by for a few."

"It's fine," I take a seat as well and smile, "I'm glad you came, actually."

"I'm glad too," she says, "I've just been working too much lately."

"You work here?" I question, "I thought you were just here for a little bit."

I get distracted by the weird sensation that strikes the back of my neck. It's an unfamiliar feeling, but I think I always get a similar one when I'm around Finnick. I don't know.

"We are," she says. _We._ "We're just here for the weekend, and then we leave Monday."

She's talking about Brutus and herself.

"So you guys are still… you know," I try to say it but just can't. I know for a fact that Brutus is just like Gloss. Foxface may not see it but I clearly do! When we were in college, and barely met the two of them, they were hitting on us, trying to get us to sleep with them. I didn't know that they only wanted us for that, but they did. Gloss and I began dating a week after that and had sex the same week—that's when he got me pregnant. I am not even sure if Brutus and Foxface have done that… They probably have—knowing Brutus and all.

I bite my lip to keep myself distracted from all these thoughts, but it's impossible. Foxface cannot marry Brutus, she can't. I care too much for her to let that happen. I don't want her to go through what I went through. What if Brutus abuses her? What is she runs away from him, due to the stuff that he'll probably do to her? She just can't do it. I love her too much for letting her. I mean, I still consider her my best friend.

"Me and Brutus are getting married on Saturday," she says and that's when I feel my eyes beginning to produce tears. "We're getting married Saturday. We're spending the whole day together on Sunday, and we're going to back to San Bernardino on Monday. We have to get up very early to catch our flight."

"Sounds like a…" I begin to speak, "Like a busy weekend."

"Busy?" she responds. "It's far beyond busy! I mean, the wedding is Saturday, the day after tomorrow. It's going to be a freakishly long day, and by the time we get to our hotel, we're going to be exhausted. And tomorrow, we have to sort everything out and make sure everything is set and ready. Who knows what'll go down on Sunday."

_Do whatever Brutus wants to do all day. And I know exactly what he'll want to do all day._

I don't respond but decide to take another look at her engagement ring. The small diamonds attract my eyes and I can't lay them off of them. They're too magnetic.

"What's wrong?" she says. "You don't look happy."

_I'm not._

"No," I shake my head, "I am. I'm just… exhausted. I guess."

She raises an eyebrow. "You're lying."

"I am not," I say, "I'm being honest."

"Annie," she places her hand on my shoulder. "I know you too well to believe that."

_If you knew me too well, you would know that you're making the biggest mistake of your life, and you'll know that I care too much for you to let you do that._

"I'm happy for you," I try my best not to cry. "I really am… I…"

I can't help it. I already feel a tear going down my cheek, feeling the warmness of it. I can taste the saltiness when it reaches my mouth.

"What's wrong?" she gently pulls me in for a hug. "Annie, tell me."

I keep sobbing.

"Whatever's wrong, it's going to be okay. I promise," she gently pats my back.

"No, it's not," I say; I'm not sure if she can hear me. "He won't change."

That's when she stops.

"Wait, what?" she questions.

I release a few more tears before I wipe them off and say, "Foxface… you can't marry him. Please don't—it's the biggest mistake you can ever think of. And this is coming from your best friend; he's not a good guy. You deserve way better."

Her mouth is opened. "I knew it," she shakes her head. "I knew it. I knew you'd do this!"

She stands up but doesn't make her way to the door. Instead, she stares into the mirror; I guess looking right at me through it.

"I… I'm sorry," I stand up as well. "But I just can't let you go through this. I'm saying this because I care about you. I care about your future, about how it may be ruined if you do marry him."

"If?" she enfolds her arms across her chest, "If? You mean 'will.' I don't need your opinion in this. I can take care of myself, and I don't need you to tell me what to do."

"I'm not telling you what to do," I try my best not to raise my voice when I see that Creek is looking at us. "I'm just trying to tell you how I feel about this. Just please, Foxface, please don't go through this. If you marry him, you're going to regret it."

"Well what if I don't want to hear what you have to say about this, huh?" she responds. I don't even think she's listening to a word I'm saying. "What if I don't want your opinion in this? You didn't see my opinion whenever you opened your legs and got pregnant."

That's when I stare down at the ground and feel, probably, the only tears I have remaining build up. I don't want to think about that; I really don't want to, especially since Creek is right here with us.

"I know," I blink the tears away and look up at her, "I didn't hear your opinion about that. You want to know why? You weren't even there for me; you stopped talking to me."

"I stopped talking to you because of Brutus. Can't you see that he was my boyfriend, and can't you see that I'm happy about marrying him in a few days? I mean, don't you even care about how I feel about this?" her words actually make me think a little. _I do care about how she feels. _But she won't feel happy forever after she does marry him.

"I do care," I say, "I just want you to be happy."

"And I am," she licks her lips and gets near me. "Listen, I'm happy with Brutus. I'm going to marry him whether you like it or not. And if you can't accept that, then you and I are done."

I stare into her amber colored eyes and her sleek red hair. I can see why Creek called her the Joker's sister… maybe he's right, because she can't be joking right now. I've known her for quite a while, and I refuse to let her do this.

I shake my head. "I can't let you."

She just backs away and nods slowly, picking up her small purse from the floor. "Alright then," she says, "Alright. Good luck taking care of yourself and Creek. You're going to need it. And also, with that guy you just met… be careful," she then points at Creek, "You don't want the same mistake to happen twice."

That's the last thing she says before our eyes lock one more time, and she gets out, slamming the door shut.

* * *

**NOTES: This chapter was pretty intense and kind of sad... if those are the words. I knew from the start that Foxface and Annie weren't going to continue on being friends. Foxface just wants to marry Brutus and won't even listen a word Annie says- in other words, she doesn't care what Annie has to say. All she wants is to be with Brutus; she'll stop being friends with Annie just to be with Brutus... and that's exactly what she just did. ****_Way to go, Foxface! You just lost a perfectly good friend, good luck with Brutus._**** Sorry, I like talking to myself like that:P Anyway, I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter and please leave a review:) thank you:)**

**_krikanalo: _****Thank you:) I hope you liked this chapter.**

_**Juliet's Shadow:**_** Johanna is a shark, like Candice! They're both sharks who'll just snap at any moment. Haha, well I hope you liked this "depressing" chapter and thank you so much for reading:)**

_**Catching Fireflies:**_** Right?! Johanna is just one jealous ***** but then again, it fits her perfectly, at least in my opinion. And I hope you liked the Creek and Annie moment at the beginning:) Sadly, there wasn't any Finnick in this chapter but there will be in the next ones!:D So hope you enjoyed this chapter and thanks:)**

_**Michelle (Guest): **_**I love McDonald's as well:D it's so delicious:) And who wouldn't add mahogany to a story?!;) And that reminds me, I'm thinking of adding Effie in this... But I'm not sure yet. You think I should? Well, yeah... the Finnick and Annie moment at the end of the last chapter, I was making it look like they were going to kiss but decided to add a little surprise at the end, so I hope it surprised you!:) And I can't wait to bring Gloss back into this- it's going to darken everything, and just make it much more interesting:D I hope you enjoyed this sad chapter and can't wait to hear your opinion:)**

_**MeaganOneDirection:**_** Aw, thank you so much!:) And Gloss is a stupid meanie! He doesn't deserve a girl like Annie. About that Johanna thing, I thought she was the best character to be Finnick's ex. I was like, "Johanna can be a vicious girl with an attitude who can easily get jealous. And she also is good friends with Finnick in the books, so might as well make her his ex!" XD I'm glad you love this story and hope you loved this chapter as well!:D Thank you so much!**

_**Pieluver (Guess):**_** Oh yes... Gloss will be back soon, pretty soon. I can't wait to bring him back into the story; I feel like it'll make everything tense up and just... I can't even describe. XD I'm glad you love this story and I hope you liked this chapter:) thank you so much for reviewing!:D**


	13. Chapter 13

**Chapter 13**

So it's done. I no longer have a best friend. I no longer have someone who I can go to for help or even for some advice. Of course, I do have God. But around me, physically, no one. Absolutely nothing. It feels like I'm alone all of the sudden again—like Creek isn't even here with me right now. Everything just feels empty; my heart is beating slower than a clock's ticking. I just wish my heart would just stop beating, stop pumping blood into my veins. I wish I had nothing left anymore; I just wish I could just stop breathing at this moment. But I have to be careful for what I wish for, because it can really happen. And that means I'd leave Creek behind—all alone.

I try blinking the ton of tears I have away as I pull the sheets to cover my face. I don't want to look at anything right now. All I want to see is darkness, because that's how it all feels now. Everything has suddenly darkened again—I'm just grateful that it isn't bad like having to live with Gloss again.

_"Alright. Good luck taking care of yourself and Creek. You're going to need it. And also, with that guy you just met… be careful. You don't want the same mistake to happen twice." _The last thing she said to me—meaning, that she's warning me to be careful with Finnick. _"You don't want the same mistake to happen twice."_ Mistake? Does she mean that Creek was a mistake? I know that he was unplanned; we didn't expect him to come so early, or to even be born. But that doesn't mean that he was a mistake. He's a blessing—having sex with Gloss was the mistake. And I still can't believe that he was my first when I absolutely for sure know that I wasn't his first. It'd be a cold day in hell if I was his first.

But why did Foxface warn me? Why was that her very last words to me? I know Finnick; I know I just met him but I know him. He knows me. He doesn't want me for sex only—he wants me because… because… he _loves_ me. He said he loves me, and to this point, I still hardly believe him. Gloss only said that he loved me when we were dating. He told me multiple times on the first week, and told me right before _it_ happened.

"You see that?" he pointed at one of the many stars that were all over the sky that night, that late night.

"Where?" I smiled as I leaned the side of my head against his broad shoulder.

"The one that reminds me of you," he then kissed the side of my head. "When I look at the stars, they all remind me of you. You want to know why? Because you're my star."

I couldn't help it but blush a little. I felt my cheeks reddening; a weird sensation traveling through many parts of my body. It felt like he meant it. I actually believed him and when I look at it now, it makes me want to harm myself. _I think I should do that._

"Stop," I said playfully, "I find that very doubtful."

"I don't. I find it beautiful how you can appear bright on the sky," he said, "You're my star, Annie. You're my babe."

"Really?" I felt more chills. "You think I'm beautiful? Gloss, have you seen me?"

"Yeah, and I don't regret it. Every time I look at you, it makes me think about how impossible it is to have a girl as beautiful as you live in this planet," he said. I can't believe I actually fell for that. _God, I was such a stupid idiot._

"Listen, Gloss," I looked up at his gorgeous blue eyes. "You don't have to say those things to make me feel better or good about myself. You don't have to make all those things up. I'm none of those things anyway; I understand."

"I'm not making any of these things up," he said, sounding serious. That's what made me believe him and it also made me fall for it. "Babe, I'm me and I think that you're the most beautiful thing living on this earth. I've never seen any other girl as attractive and sweet as you. Like I said, you're my only star… you're my babe and I love you."

_My goodness_, I thought to myself. _I can't believe it. He actually means it._ I bit my lip hard as he squeezed me harder and touched my lips softly with his thumb and index finger. His warmth soothed me and I felt his comfortable biceps from his arm. I also slightly touched the abs on his stomach and that's when I lost it.

"I love you too." I softly said before he slowly leaned in and kissed me softly. I kissed him back, running both of my hands all over his back, leading to the back of his head. Everything for me was unfocused on but him. My whole focus was on him—kissing my neck, my upper chest as he ran his hand all over my back, going all the way down until I had lost all of my control. I remember him lying on top of me afterwards; nude. There wasn't space for the both of us to share the seat, but I didn't care at that moment. I didn't care about anything, because I felt like Gloss actually really loved me. I felt like he was the _one _for me, and that I was the _one_ for him. But obviously, it didn't turn out that way by the looks of me now. I got pregnant afterwards. We married. He treated me like a worthless piece of junk, like I was trash to him. And perhaps I am. He beat me, used me, and never appreciated me. In other words, he didn't treat me like his wife—more like his enemy. I ran away with our son. I lost my best friend. I know that he has already discovered me and Creek's disappearance. And I know that he's in full rage right now; he probably wants to kill me now. Honestly, I wouldn't mind at all if he did. I just want Creek to be safe.

"Mommy," I feel Creek shaking me. "Mommy, someone is outside."

I wipe my wet cheeks until they feel sticky and manage to get up. Indeed, someone is outside and I know the owner of the car who's parked right next to ours.

"Is it Finnick-Man?" Creek's face turns into a large smile. "Is it, mommy? Is it?"

I smile. "It is." I rub the top of his head and make my way towards the door. Every time I see Finnick, I have the urge to just smile nonstop for eternity. I'm not sure if it's something I should be worried about, or be grateful for. But Finnick always seems to make my days better, ignoring the fact that I just lost my best friend.

"Hey Ann," he smiles after I open the door and see that he's only wearing a tank-top, a black one. _Goodness, calm down, calm down._ I bite my lip as I greet him too and let him in. Like always, he goes up to Creek and picks him up in the air to spin him, pretending that he's flying.

"Wow, did you get heavier?" Finnick laughs after he puts him down and rubs the top of Creek's head. "You're becoming a man, little dude."

"But I am a man," Creek says, grabbing his action figure. "I am the man of the house."

"I know you are," says Finnick, smiling a little more.

I love seeing both of them interact—seeing them both happy. It makes me feel better, adding more to my happiness after I see Finnick. Seeing Creek happy blisses me even more, because it lets me know that he may not be missing Gloss. And I hope he definitely is not. _Just hope._

"Oh I almost forgot," Finnick rushes outside and comes back in with a bouquet of flowers, beautiful, stunning flowers. "It's for you."

"Finnick," I smile and don't know how to react. _He got me flowers._ _He's starting to spend money on me. _Then, I realize that he paid for me when we went out to dinner. _No, I'm sucking money out of him. _I can't do that; I can't be letting Finnick spend his money on me. I can't. "You didn't have to get me these."

I take a close look at them and can't help it but keep smiling, letting Finnick know that I love them and want them. I do want them but I just can't accept them. _Wow_, I think. _I can never accept anything. That's why I lost Foxface._

"Ann, I am not leaving with these," he says, "They are for you—they're special, just like you."

I feel like I'm blushing—wait, I am. I remember the last time when Gloss said something like that, and it wasn't a couple of weeks or even months back. It was years back, probably shortly after we got married. He didn't look too satisfied when Creek was born either, and he didn't tell me anything. To this day, I am still sure that he never wanted Creek in the first place; but if he doesn't want Creek, and he doesn't want me, would he try to look for us? _Stop thinking like this. Stop thinking like this._ I push my hair back and take in a deep breath. I know I can't deny these flowers, and I'm not planning to, but I still have second thoughts. _Things are picking up._

"Thank you," I say and let him pull me in for a hug. I can feel his hard chest, his heartbeat, beating at probably fifty times a second! My head feels too comfortable against his shoulder that I don't want to take it off. I don't want to release him, or even let him release me. I don't want this moment to stop—why can't it just freeze like this?

"Listen," he releases me, _ugh. _"I haven't seen you in a short while and I know I've already said this, but I'm still really sorry for how Johanna acted at the restaurant."

I bite my lip at his sentence. I forgot that Johanna is his ex-girlfriend. I wasn't too shocked whenever he told me that one night, but it left me wondering on who dumped who. I honestly couldn't care less about that, but I'm still a bit curious. If Johanna is jealous of me, does that mean that Finnick is the one who broke up with her? She's obviously still not moved on from him, and if it's a problem, I don't see how I can keep on going through this thing with Finnick.

"Don't be sorry," I say and walk over to the bed. "It isn't your fault and it's not her fault either. I'm all the blame."

"What?" he walks over to me and sits me down on the bed. "Ann, it's not your fault. Look, I'm going to tell you this now. I don't feel anything like that for Johanna—she's the past. Things just weren't working out and I decided to just break up with her."

I rub my arm. "Why were things not working out?"

"They just weren't," he shakes his head and grabs both of my hands. "Ann, you're the only girl I see right now. You're the girl I'm interested in and… you're the only girl I want…"

Suddenly, I feel like I'm being lifted up from drowning in the middle of the ocean. It feels like the lights are lifting me before it's too late and I drown. Finnick is lifting me right now—he's saving me.

"You… you…" I quickly stand up and walk towards the mirror near the bathroom. I have to keep a look at my eyes, to make sure no tears form. Through the reflection, I see that Finnick is getting near me. _Oh God._

"You okay?" he firmly and nicely touches both of my arms. I shiver.

"Y-yeah," I say while goose bumps scatter all over my body. _He's touching me._

"I want you, Ann. I want to be yours, and I want you to be mine," he softly says. His hands are so soft as they feel against my skin—he makes their way towards the sides of my neck, nicely rubbing it, moving at a lovely rhythm. I close my eyes to let him rub me more, and that way our eyes don't connect. But I can't help it as I open my eyes and they automatically tie each other, making it impossible for me to look away. His smile is white against his tan skin, his hair just looks so wonderful right now; he looks perfect right now—his tank-top is giving me the advantage to see his perfect biceps. He just can't make me look away.

Creek is on the floor by the bed, playing his life away with every single action figure I brought with us. He's not paying attention to us, but I really don't want him to. I don't want him to think that I've quickly moved on from Gloss; then again, I think I just have, because for the most obvious reason in the entire world, I think I have fallen in love with Finnick Odair.

* * *

**NOTES: Good afternoon, guys! So I was on FanFiction earlier today, and I noticed that I haven't been adding on to my stories lately. I also noticed that me and ****_Juliet's Shadow_****'s co-written story ****_Candles,_**** hasn't been updated since July! So I've been typing for like hours, and I worked really hard on this one. If it's crappy, I'm sorry. And I know that it's slow- nothing pretty much happens but I did decide to include a flashback of the night when Gloss and Annie... you know... yeah... But despite the slow chapter, I hope you guys liked it and I'm sorry that I took a while to update. The only thing I've been writing lately is ****_Candles _****and that's not even a lot, and I've been everywhere this past week XD So thank y'all very much for being patient and please review:)**

_**Catching Fireflies:**_** Foxface will regret it- she'll get her lesson taught. And this chapter's slow, but I hope you liked it:) and I hope you like the next ones after this, because after this chapter, the story is going to start picking up even more:) (But beware: Gloss's search for Creek and Annie is coming really soon...)**

_**krikanalo:**_** I'm glad you like it:) thank you! And I hope you liked this chapter.**

_**Fighting The**_**_ Inevitable: _****I was really disappointed in Foxface- she was being a ****** but she'll get her lesson taught. And I hope you liked this chapter:) better chapters will come after this, and I'll try to update quicker!**

_**MeaganOneDirection:**_** Aw, I'm glad you liked the last chapter:) and it was pretty intense and sad. I hope you enjoyed this slow chapter and hope you're looking forward for the next ones:) they will be picking up the story.**

_**MewWinx96:**_** I'm glad you like this story, and it was really fun to write that bonus chapter for ****_Graceland_****!:) Thank you so much for checking my stories out and I hope they get better and better for you:)**__


	14. Chapter 14

**Chapter 14**

"There's something I have to tell you," he says, looking at me straight in the eye with his sea green colored ones. I know this isn't good. Whenever a guy tells you he has to tell you something, it usually means it's nothing good. But then again, I may be wrong; _who am I kidding? I'm never right at anything anyway._

I bite my lip and my fingers stretch out, beginning to scratch the soft sheets, roughing them up a little. I feel the material and part of the sheets ripping through with my sharp nails, but I don't care. All I want to know is what Finnick has to tell me. And whether it's good or not, it's his feelings.

"What is it?" I simply ask, sounding extremely curious.

"I just don't know what to tell you—well, how to tell you," he responds, his forehead is covered with sweat and I can see a few droplets flowing down near his ears.

I let out a breath before I touch the top of his hand. "Finnick, you can tell me anything."

Looking around, I don't see Creek anywhere. The bathroom door isn't even closed, and the lights are off. He's not on the other side of the bed. He's not by the door. He can't be in the closet. He's not _here_. For some odd reason, it doesn't bother me at all. And weirdly, I just noticed, this is not the motel room. _This_, the bed that we're sitting on, is not mine and Creek's bed. The T.V. is not ours either, and the bathroom is supposed to be over there, and the closet is supposed to be on the other side of the room… _This isn't the motel room._

"I-" he doesn't have time to explain before I interrupt him.

"Where are we?" I quickly get up, looking around everywhere. The walls aren't even this color!

"What are you talking about?" he questions, also standing up. "We're at my place."

His place? I don't even remember going to his place, and if we are at his place, did we leave Creek behind?! My heart rate increases, beating faster and faster by the second. My breathing exhilarates and I start to breathe harder and harder. I can feel Finnick getting closer to me; his warmth surrounds my whole body.

"Finnick, I have to go," I start to make my way for the door, but only to be stopped by him. He takes my hand and pulls me back.

"Wait," he turns me to where I can look at him. "Don't leave yet, please. I want to spend some time with you."

"We've been hanging out a lot lately. We've spent enough time together; I have to go," I can't even make another step, because he yanks and pulls me towards the bed again.

"What are you doing?" my voice is rising and fear begins to strike me. _This isn't good. I'm not supposed to be scared of Finnick!_

"Babe, I want to spend some time before you go," he says and it makes me realize that _this _is not Finnick. Whatever I'm talking to is not Finnick Odair. _This _thing that I'm with, that I'm speaking to, is not the love of my life. This thing is not the man who loves, who's willing to take care of me, who's willing to spend the rest of his life with me. This thing is not the man I love, this thing is my enemy, this thing is a demon; this thing is not my Finnick. _My Finnick_.

"Let go of me!" I manage to yank my arm off but only to be pushed by him and I land right on the bed hard. He looks like Finnick, but he's not Finnick. He's not Finnick. He's not him. This Finnick is terrifying; his eyes don't even look like his color no more. His hair is suddenly blond and shorter. His skin is no longer tan, but a little bit lighter. His eyes are now blue, and look dark, like's about to kill me. And I do not doubt that. His shoulders are broader, and his chest looks harder. He's even taller now… He stands right in front of me, breathing hard—I can feel his fury, his rage building up as he looks at me. God only know what's happening next. But that's when I know that this isn't Finnick who I'm looking at—mentally, emotionally, or physically. This is my husband who I am looking at right now.

"You fucking, no-good bitch!" he yells as his hand travels towards me, making its way for my throat but I have time to move and fall off the bed. I hit my knee hard and pain begins to travel throughout that whole portion. I quickly grab it and let out a groan but that's when I see that Gloss is getting near me. I try getting up but fall again, and it's no use as I begin to crawl, heading towards the door. That's when I realize that this is neither the motel room, nor Finnick's. _I haven't even seen Finnick's place._ But I know this isn't his, because this room, the one where we're in right now, is Gloss's room. I look back over my shoulder and Gloss is right behind me. My hair is suddenly in his hands, yanked, as it pulls my head back extremely hard that I let out a loud scream. I can tell that he's grinning right now, enjoying every single second of this. Me being in pain satisfies him, and I know that by looking at all the other times he has hurt me. It's like he was made by my parents.

"How the fuck do you even try get away from me?" he leans his face towards the side of mine and I can feel his lips against my cheeks as he talks. "I hope this was all worth it, and you better hope and pray for that shit you've been fucking. I have something in plan for him."

I can't even speak. My whole body is frozen and all I'm doing is shaking. I can't even feel my hair anymore—I wouldn't be surprised if he ripped it off or anything like that. But I groan again when he pulls it harder and suddenly, my head hits the floor so hard that I can feel like my skull just cracked. That's when I shriek and can't move as Gloss begins to remove his shirt and his pants before he removes my pants and horrible flashbacks of the same act begin to flash through my mind.

"Ann! Ann!" I can feel myself drop on the floor once again. His hands shake me and I feel like my eyes are rolling to the back of my head repeatedly. My vision is choppy, but I can see his bronze hair, the sea green color of the four eyes I'm seeing, the two faces that are slowly coming together until they form Finnick. "Ann! Ann!"

My skin is filled with goose bumps, and I still can't feel my hair. But it's back in its place. The room is the motel room again. And Creek is next to Finnick, his eyes are in full fear, looking at me as if I'm some sort of demon, as if I'm going through some sort of seizure. Perhaps I am.

"Calm down," Finnick whispers and takes my face with his hands, pressing his forehead against mine. "Calm down. Calm down. Calm down."

His hands seem to be soothing me, calming me down as my breathing slows down once again. His forehead isn't sweaty, but smooth and soft. His nose is touching mine and our lips are only a few millimeters apart… _God, please lean closer. Please. Please save me._

…

"I'm sorry," I softly say as I lean my head against Finnick's shoulder. We're both lying down on the bed—Creek is on the floor, one action figure in his hand, and the other free. He's watching the T.V. calm, quiet, and seems to be enjoying it.

"Don't be sorry," Finnick responds with also a soft tone. "I think you were just freaking out."

I stay quiet for a moment. "Yeah… I guess I was."

His hand is around me, and I make him take off his shoes for some peculiar reason. I guess I want to make him feel as comfortable as possible.

"Ugh, I shouldn't have done that. God, I'm such an idiot," I shake my head.

"You're not an idiot, Ann," he says, moving a part of my hair to the other side. "Don't call yourself that."

"I am, Finnick," I say, "There's nothing you can say that'll tell me otherwise. I just completely embarrassed myself in front of you. I can't do anything right. I can barely take care of myself. I have these breakdowns sometimes, and it's not healthy for… Hammil. Finnick, why are you still here anyway? Why haven't you left? You know, walked off on me?"

He licks his lips and looks the other way until he turns back to look at me right in the eyes. Goodness, I just love his beautiful eyes.

"Ann, I wouldn't walk away for the world. You've made my life better, and since we met a few days ago, I felt a connection between us. I feel like I've known you my whole life. And I'm glad we did meet… Don't you get it? Ann, we're meant to be. We belong together—you're mine and… I'm yours. I… I love you, Ann. I truly do." His words have just now begun to flow through my mind, racing everywhere. Every single word, every letter is sticking through my head, stapling, stamping, gluing on so it won't go away.

His hand meets mine and my fingers begin to curl and wrap around his as he does the same. It feels warm and surprisingly, I'm comfortable and don't care about anything else that's going on right now. I care less about everything when suddenly Finnick's soft lips plant a kiss on my cheek. A sensation goes through everywhere in my body and we look at each other for a moment, a deep, short moment…

"I love you too, Finnick." I promise him and he smiles before he kisses my cheek again. I haven't felt this secure in the longest while. I haven't felt so comfortable with someone right next to me—of course, with Gloss I did, but only when we were dating. Including that night when _it_ happened. Creek continues to watch television as Finnick and I just lie here, enjoying each other's company.

* * *

**NOTES: *sigh of relief* woo! Wow guys... I survived the first week of school!:D I have to admit, at first, like the first two and a half days or three, I was not enjoying my Junior year. But eh... it's getting better and better by the day:) The only problem is that I'm not updating fast, because of homework, the exhaustion of getting home from school... I barely have time to write now- however, I did write plenty last night. I wrote this chapter last night in one sitting! It's some sort of record and decided to update today, so many of you can see it. This chapter is pretty intense at the beginning but I made it romantic and sweet at the end:) ****_they love each other_****:) XD I WILL start on the next chapter right now. (For ****_Emergent_**** fans, if any of you are reading this, I did start on chapter 4 already like thirty minutes ago, so I'll try to update that as well.) It's only going to get slower and slower but I'll try my absolute best to keep you guys updated!:) thank you so much for being patient and leave a review:)**

_**Juliet's Shadow:**_** Lunch was fun:) and I'm glad you LOVE this story:) I really love yours as well! I hope you loved this chapter and can't wait to hear your comments!:) Thank you so much:)**

_**Raina4Ever:**_** It's all good:) no worries! I'm really glad you're liking this and I'm sorry I took so long to update but here it is:) thank you so much!**

_**Catching Fireflies:**_** Haha XD well now she doesn't think... she knows;) I hope you enjoyed this chapter, and hope it's getting better and better:) Thank you so much for your support!**

_**peoplebtrippin:**_** Yay! Got a review from someone in San Bernardino!:) I didn't think I'd get one but you did it:) I'm glad you like the idea and I was always thinking of San Bernardino when the idea popped out of nowhere for this story. I've been there once and I loved it:) Thank you so much and hope to hear from you again! (P.S. About the Finnick's POV thingy: my friend, ****_Juliet's Shadow_****, she will be doing a bonus chapter featuring Finnick's point-of-view, but that'll be probably before the climax or after the climax of this story. So yeah... There will be one:D)**

_**MeaganOneDirection:**_** The beginning of this was so intense that I was like... :O:O as I was writing. It was really fun to write but had to take a few breaks. I hope you like it and I hope you LOVE the last scene:) Thank you so much!:)**

_**anon (Guest):**_** I'm glad you like it:) and I hope it's getting better and better for you:)**

_**MoonlightMiracle389:**_** Yay:) I'm glad you like this story, and I'm overwhelmed that you hate Gloss. Everybody does. XD I hope you like this chapter and thank you so much for reviewing!:)**


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